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Nicholas Mullins

Software leader, dad, gamer, and occasional nerd. I write about tech leadership, building teams, and the stuff that actually matters. Mostly honest. Sometimes sarcastic.

📍 Michigan

Most Teams Have Two Operating Systems

Most companies are running two operating systems at the same time: the official workflow leadership documents and the unofficial one that employees actually use to get work done. Shadow workflows are not usually rebellious. They are what teams build when the process becomes too heavy to function.

The Most Effective Leaders I've Worked With All Said What They Actually Meant

Most communication problems in organizations are not caused by people talking too little. They are caused by leaders saying nothing clearly while using three times as many words.

AI Didn't Cause Most of These Tech Layoffs. Stop Blaming the Robot.

AI is becoming the easiest explanation for tech layoffs, but most of the industry's recent cuts were driven by overhiring, investor pressure, and changing economic conditions long before AI became the headline.

Your Retention Problem Has a Name. It's Your Manager.

Tech companies spend millions trying to improve retention while avoiding the conversation most likely to solve the problem: the quality of the people managing their teams.

Vibe Coding Is Having Its Hangover Moment

The code worked. Until production happened. AI-assisted development is accelerating software delivery, but many teams are discovering that fast code and good code are not the same thing.

Engineering Burnout Is No Longer a Warning Sign. It's the Default State.

Burnout in tech is no longer surprising. That should scare leadership teams. Exhaustion has become normalized across engineering organizations, and most companies are still treating it like a wellness issue instead of a structural leadership failure.

The Junior Developer Pipeline Is Being Demolished on Purpose

Companies are quietly freezing junior developer hiring while celebrating AI productivity gains. The short-term math works. The long-term consequences could reshape the entire software industry.

Tech Leadership Without the Corporate Costume:

An honest conversation about software development, leadership, AI, burnout, impostor syndrome, and why authenticity matters more than corporate polish.

The Developer’s Guide to Responsible AI

AI can help developers move faster, but speed without understanding creates fragile systems, security risks, and technical debt. Responsible AI use is not about avoiding AI. It is about using it without surrendering your judgment, ethics, or engineering standards.

Colon Cancer Awareness Month and the Reality Behind the Numbers

I had colon cancer before 45. This March, during Colon Cancer Awareness Month, I am sharing the statistics, the risks for younger adults, and why early detection matters.