Category: Leadership
Feature, Story, Task, Bug
The last good thing that ever happened to my team was the day we stopped arguing about whether something was a Story or a Task. I want to be honest about the conditions before that day. We had a backlog. We had a board with columns. We had labels. We had a tool — a…
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Policies Don’t Lead
Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time helping organizations figure out what AI actually means for their business. We’ve also been doing the same work ourselves inside Don’t Panic Labs. Along the way, something has become increasingly obvious to me. Almost everyone starts in the same place. Someone asks Legal to draft…
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The Talent Pipeline Flush
Every few months, another headline drops: thousands of employees cut at a major tech company, paired with a statement about “repositioning for AI.” The numbers are staggering. The press releases are polished. And if you only read the headlines, you’d think these companies are shrinking. They’re not. They’re swapping one workforce for another, and the…
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The Village We Build at Work
You might think this isn’t for you. Maybe you’re not a mom, or you don’t plan to be one. Maybe you’re a man, or you’ve never experienced postpartum anything. But I’m asking you to keep reading anyway. Because the truth is, innovation and growth in any company comes down to one thing: how people show…
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Don’t Panic, Adapt
If you work at a desk and use a computer, you’ve probably seen at least one headline in the last year telling you AI is coming for your job. The anxiety is real, and it’s not going away. But is the panic warranted? Let’s look at what the data actually says. A good example landed…
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AI Replacing Software Developers? What the Latest Research Actually Shows
“AI will write 90% of code by tomorrow.” “Developers will be obsolete in five years.” Tech Twitter loves a good doom spiral. Engagement farms thrive on fear. Scary sells. But here is what the data actually shows: AI is not a replacement. AI is amplification, and that amplification cuts both ways. AI is chewing through…
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Finding Joy in the Work and in What Comes Next
This month, I am stepping away from daily operations as Managing Partner at Don’t Panic Labs. Over the past 15 years at Nebraska Global and Don’t Panic Labs, I have been engaged every day doing challenging work that I love. I focused on building companies, engineering solutions for our partners, and evangelizing for our ecosystem…
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Beyond the Booth: How We Talk About Coaching and Growth in Engineering (and Everywhere)
What have your experiences been with conference vendor booths? When I ask myself that question, do you know what happens? My mind goes blank; they all blur together – none of them stand out. Why? (Channeling my 5-year-old daughter) In my opinion, most booths are trying to project out vs finding a way to take…
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What Military Intelligence Taught Me About Business Intelligence
The world of business intelligence came as second nature to me. Transitioning from the public to the private sector, I LOVED doing competitor analysis and analyzing the market, so much so that I didn’t understand why it wasn’t like that for everyone. As a product manager at the time, it just made sense. Talking with…
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Don’t Panic Labs – The First 15 Years
April 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of Don’t Panic Labs. We are a software product development and innovation company in Nebraska that focuses on providing the necessary support, experience, and product development capacity to innovation groups and entrepreneurs to bring their innovative vision to life. In this blog post, I will be…
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