Truthy exists to explore something most tech conversations avoid:
The crossover between hard skills and soft skills—and why separating them no longer makes sense.
In modern tech careers, this divide is artificial.
And in the age of AI, it’s becoming costly.
The False Divide
For years, the industry treated skills like this:
- Hard skills: coding, systems, architecture, execution
- Soft skills: communication, leadership, judgment, empathy
Individual contributors were expected to master the first.
Managers were expected to handle the second.
That model no longer works.
AI Is Collapsing the Gap
AI accelerates execution.
That means:
- Writing code is faster
- Producing output is easier
- Shipping is less exclusive
What AI does not automate is:
- Judgment
- Prioritization
- Tradeoffs
- Context
- Trust
As technical execution becomes easier, human decision-making becomes more valuable—not less.
Hard skills without soft skills scale poorly.
Soft skills without technical grounding lose credibility.
The future belongs to people who understand both.
Where ICs and Managers Actually Overlap
The best individual contributors:
- Think in systems, not just tasks
- Communicate clearly and asynchronously
- Understand business context
- Make tradeoffs, not just solutions
The best managers:
- Understand technical constraints
- Earn credibility through clarity
- Translate strategy into execution
- Remove friction instead of adding process
These roles are not opposites.
They are converging.
Meeting in the middle is no longer optional—it’s the job.
Why I’m Writing This
I didn’t learn this from theory.
I learned it by living on both sides.
I’ve worked as:
- A hands-on technical contributor
- A bridge between engineering and stakeholders
- Someone responsible for both execution and outcomes
- Someone who had to earn trust upward, downward, and sideways
I’ve seen what breaks when:
- Technical people ignore human dynamics
- Leaders ignore technical reality
- Process replaces thinking
- Tools replace understanding
This site exists to document what actually works.
What Truthy Is About
Truthy is a place for:
- Clear thinking in an AI-saturated world
- Practical frameworks, not platitudes
- Honest conversations about careers and growth
- Exploring how technology and humanity intersect—without pretending they’re separate
This is not about becoming a “10x engineer.”
It’s about becoming a credible, effective, adaptable professional.
Why Some Articles Are Locked
The articles you see listed are written but intentionally unavailable.
They will unlock gradually.
Not to create hype—but to preserve signal.
Each piece builds on the ones before it.
Releasing them slowly allows the ideas to land as intended.
Final Thought
AI is accelerating everything.
That includes:
- Technical execution
- Communication
- Learning curves
- Career divergence
The people who thrive will be the ones who can think clearly across boundaries.
This site is for those people.
Welcome to Truthy.
— Micheal