Joshua McDonaldAug 25, 2026A Third of Feedback Makes Performance WorseKluger and DeNisi found feedback backfiring in 38 percent of cases. The failures have two things in common: no specific action and distance…
Joshua McDonaldAug 20, 2026The Org Chart, the Tube Map, and Models That Are Wrong on PurposeAshby says a manager needs a model of their system. Every model is wrong. The London Tube map explains how both are true.
Joshua McDonaldAug 11, 2026Being Wrong in PublicNewton, Popper, the AWS Correction of Errors process, and how mistakes made in the open become the shoulders others stand on
Joshua McDonaldAug 2, 2026Every Improvement Made No DifferenceTheory of Constraints, the lane drop at Clarksburg, and why local wins do not add up
Joshua McDonaldJul 7, 2026Let the Expensive Model Write the InstructionsI build dcaudiotours.com, a set of self-guided walking tours for Washington DC. Thirteen themed tours, eight neighborhood walks, each one a…
Joshua McDonaldJun 14, 2026How an Export Control Rule Reaches an AI Model Running in a US Data CenterWhat the directive on Fable 5 and Mythos 5 says, how deemed-export law works, and the 1991 precedent. Sourced to primary documents.
Joshua McDonaldApr 7, 2026When You Can Build Anything, How Do You Decide What to Build?Every engineering team eventually faces this question, and fifty years of business theory offer some guidance on how to answer it.
Joshua McDonaldMar 26, 2026Nudge Theory Revisited: Writing Tickets for Humans and MachinesUsing ideas from behavioral economics to improve ticket writing, especially now that large language models are reading your tickets as…
Joshua McDonaldFeb 23, 2026Why Every Engineering Team Needs a Monthly Business ReviewImagine it’s the end of the quarter. Leadership is preparing the board deck, and someone asks, “What did engineering actually ship this…
Joshua McDonaldFeb 11, 2026What a 15th-century lawsuit and a lead letter ‘A’ can teach us about the age of AIThe revolution of the 15th century wasn’t defined by the scent of old paper or libraries. Instead, it was shaped by the strong, industrial…
Joshua McDonaldJan 16, 2026Why AI Forgot Your Name: The “Vanishing Whiteboard” TheoryAI doesn’t have a brain. It has a sliding window. Here is how to stop it from losing your data.
Joshua McDonaldJan 16, 2026How to Stop AI Hallucinations by Teaching It to Say “I Don’t Know”Your AI isn’t lying to deceive you. It’s lying to please you. Here is the engineering fix.
Joshua McDonaldJan 13, 2026Stop Treating AI Like a Brain. Treat It Like a Stadium.Why your prompts are failing and the single mental shift that fixes them.
Joshua McDonaldApr 19, 2021On testing softwareI’ve taught some college courses and have always been asked to provide a teaching philosophy as a guide to both students, but also the…
Joshua McDonaldAug 3, 2020Money can’t buy loyalty — intrinsic and extrinsic motivationThere are two two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from within. It’s something you do for the love…
Joshua McDonaldJun 25, 2020What matters now?How to use Objectives and Key Results to narrow your focus on what matters and overcome your fear of failure.
Joshua McDonaldJan 6, 2020ComplectedI just finished reading a book that was recommended to me by a coworker. The book, titled the Unicorn Project by Gene Kim, outlines…
