Introduction
You care about your work. You want to build things that make a difference — not just ship features and close tickets. But in the daily rush of deadlines, meetings, and shifting priorities, it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters.
This book is here to help you get that focus back. It’s about thinking smarter, choosing what’s worth your time, and turning ideas into results that actually move the needle.
The Impactful Engineer is built from real stories, lessons learned, and simple habits that make great engineers stand out — not because they work harder, but because they work with purpose.
You won’t find buzzwords or big promises here. Just clear thinking, honest stories, and practical tools you can start using right away.
If you’ve ever felt there’s more you could do — more impact you could have — this book may help you get there.
Why this book?
Over the years, I’ve collected thoughts and stories on software engineering, time management, prioritization, and the daily struggles of being an engineer. At first, it was just a private document — a place I used to reflect, run retrospectives, and sharpen my thinking. It helped me become a better engineer and, more importantly, a more impactful one.
During annual performance reviews, I often revisited that document. Sometimes I’d share snippets with peers, tailoring them to the feedback I wanted to give. But my reach in those moments was limited. Over the course of my career, I may mentor a few dozen engineers.
So I asked myself, why not share these notes more broadly? Why not take the lessons, the stories, the ideas, and put them in front of a - hopefully - bigger audience? Why not amplify the impact?
Well, believe it or not, that’s how this book started.
What is this book?
Let’s start with what it’s not. This book isn’t about hacking your way to a four-hour work week. It’s not about playing politics, gaming the system, or faking impact at someone else’s expense.
This book is about using your time and energy wisely. It’s about working hard — and working smart. It’s about discipline, structure, and methods that raise the ceiling on what you can achieve.
But there’s a catch: no book, no course, no mentor can hand you the exact steps. Ultimately, only you can discover your path to greater impact.
What this book can do is expand your horizons. It can challenge you, sometimes with a contrarian view, sometimes with a simple reminder of what matters. You don’t need to agree with everything here. That’s not the point. The point is to spark thought, to help you see things differently, and to push you to carve your own path as an exceptional - and impactful - engineer.
Take what’s useful, challenge the rest.
How is this book written?
Most books are written as a business. And in publishing, books are often paid by weight — the more pages, the higher the price, the “better” the business.
From the reader’s perspective, that’s nonsense. Most technical or self-improvement books could be written in half the pages — or less. Personally, I’d gladly pay double for half the content if it meant saving my time.
I value time — mine and yours. That’s why this book is short, direct, and to the point. I avoided stuffing in ten examples when one does the job. I avoided repeating the same idea three times just to pad the page count. You’re smart enough to connect the dots and map the concepts to your own experience.
The chapters follow a simple structure: first the why, then the what, and finally the how. Because unless you understand why something matters and what the goal is, the how doesn’t stick.
So, let’s get to it — and happy reading!
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0