Outcomes come from systems and incentives, not heroics.

I’m an engineering leader who’s spent twelve years in insurance technology working out why some teams ship good work reliably while others depend on heroics. This site is the system I’ve arrived at: three pillars, six principles, and essays that test them.

The system

Three pillars, two principles each. Essays develop the principles.

Practice

How I work

People

How I lead

Systems

How organizations work

How the principles fit together →

Stephen Humer

About me

I lead quality engineering at USAA and write about how teams and organizations actually produce good outcomes. I’m most interested in people in the middle of this work, not looking back on it.

More about me →