Managing By Coincidence

Happy accidents at a new altitude.

Happy Accidents

There's this tactic I've seen inexperienced or impatient devs use that I never had a name for until I read The Pragmatic Programmer over a decade ago. It has stuck with me ever since:

We should avoid programming by coincidence—relying on luck and accidental successes—in favor of programming deliberately.

You’ve probably seen someone do this before. They encounter a problem. They’re seeing an error message. They’re off: frantically Googling, trying a bunch of different stuff, maybe copy-pasting random StackOverflow snippets, or maybe, in the age of LLMs, they’re just content with letting Cursor do its thing. Whatever it is, they mash the keys until finally something works, and then, instead of pausing and seeking to understand it, they just carry on.

This is dangerous. This lack of curiosity. The unwillingness to understand what you’re actually doing. The resistance to learning, to growing, to evolving your thinking over time. The absence of reflection. Of introspection. Sometimes, even a complete disregard for the quality of the work itself.

Unscripted, Unmoored, Unpredictable

I’ve now come to realize that some leaders operate this way too. Unscripted, they shoot from the hip. Unmoored, they wander into conversations without a plan or a point. Unpredictable, they blurt out whatever rolls off the tongue and hope that it lands.

They don’t stop to ask themselves if they’re building something coherent. Whether they’re telling the same story in every room. If they’re treating people consistently. It doesn’t seem to matter to them. They’re floating; reacting. Ad-libbing their way through leadership.

That’s jazz, right?

They often lack a consistent set of values. They aren’t grounded in principles. Leadership is jazz to them. Improvised, chaotic, and performed in the moment without any throughline. They wait for someone else’s solo to end before haphazardly blurting out their own. Nerf gun to their head, they couldn’t repeat the same message to a different audience. It’s a wild and careless way to lead. It erodes trust, chips away at confidence, and eventually torches the respect of anyone who sticks around long enough to watch the listless meandering up close.

From Improv to Intention

Build a brand. Stick to it. Hold values that actually mean something to you, and constantly question whether you’re in an environment that recognizes and rewards what you bring to the table. Don’t be afraid to evolve. Share when your opinions shift. Own it when a new perspective pushes you to take a different stance. Growth is good, but don’t settle for leadership by coincidence. Be purposeful in your interactions and let your authentic self bleed through in everything that you do.

This is the path to leadership that’s steady, grounded, and real. Improvisation has its place, but don’t confuse it with leading the band.