Control what you can control

Modern product work sits in uncertainty. The piece explores stoic thinking as a practical frame for development and leadership. Progress rests on decision quality, not outcome luck. Concrete habits support that shift: scenario planning that maps what could happen, the 10 10 10 rule to weigh time horizons, and a brief decision journal to record intent, context, and signals. Teams prepare for setbacks, focus on what they can control, and practice courage, justice, temperance. The approach fits agile ways of working and the wider pressures of tech and society. The quiet lesson is simple: think in decades, act today, and let results follow.

Podcast Episode: Control what you can control

In this episode, I talk with Maryse Meinen about stoic thinking for product development and life. We ask what happens if you stop judging success by outcomes and start judging by decision quality. Maryse shares tools you can use today: scenario planning, the 10 10 10 rule, and a simple decision journal. Prepare for failure, accept what you cannot control, and act with courage, justice, and temperance. This fits agile work and the mess we face in tech and society.

"And what the Stoics say is, well, most things are actually outside of your control. Like other people's opinions, your body, your health." - Maryse Meinen

Maryse Meinen is a product development coach who uses Agile and Stoicism to make teams and organizations more resilient and sustainable. She espouses the philosophies of degrowth and stoicism, which advocate working more efficiently with fewer resources and valuing what is already there. Her motto is: Achieve more with less!

Highlights der Episode

• Judge decisions by quality, not outcomes.
• Use scenario planning, the 10 10 10 rule, and a decision journal.
• Prepare for failure and accept what you cannot control.
• Practice courage, justice, and temperance in work and life.
• Stoic thinking fits agile work in tech and society.

Stoicism in Software Development: Building Resilient Teams with Ancient Wisdom

Philosophy Meets Modern Software Challenges

How can ancient philosophical teachings help today’s software professionals navigate complexity, pressure, and change? In a recent episode of “Software Testing Unleashed,” host Richie sat down with product development coach Maryse Meinen to uncover the surprisingly practical lessons Stoicism offers for agile teams, testers, and product owners. Maryse, known for blending agile thinking with Stoic principles, reveals how these timeless concepts can shape leadership, decision-making, and even the way we respond to setbacks—not just in our personal lives, but throughout the software development process.

What is Stoicism – and Why Should Developers Care?

Stoicism dates back to ancient Rome, with figures such as Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius developing ideas about control, resilience, and values. As Maryse shares in the podcast, Stoic philosophy centers on understanding what’s truly within our control—our perceptions, choices, and reactions—while accepting that much of life (and work) lies beyond it. Software teams, like emperors and philosophers of old, constantly face externalities: unpredictable outcomes, shifting client priorities, and variables such as the weather or global events.

Maryse notes that applying these ideas helps teams focus on decision quality rather than just results, turns failure preparation into strength, and encourages planning with both short- and long-term horizons. For software makers, this means less anxiety over metrics beyond their influence, and more energy invested in process, clarity, and value-driven action.

Key Stoic Principles for Agile and Product Teams

1. Rethink the Value of Outcomes

Agile teams often prioritize outcomes: velocity, releases, user satisfaction. But, as discussed in the episode, the Stoic mindset suggests that outcomes are shaped by countless factors outside our control. Maryse urges teams to shift their attention to decision quality and moral values—such as courage, justice, and temperance—as a compass for meaningful progress. The real measure of professionalism isn’t always in the final numbers, but in robust, principled choices along the way.

2. Prepare for Failure—Don’t Just Hope for Success

The Stoic practice of “premeditatio malorum” means anticipating things that might go wrong and planning for them, rather than assuming best-case scenarios. In software, this mirrors good risk management and scenario testing—not just building for the “happy path,” but for the rainy day, the edge case, or the unexpected outage. Maryse emphasizes that this isn’t pessimism, but practical resilience: preparing for bad weather at your release party ensures you’re never caught off guard.

3. Think in Decades: The 10-10-10 Rule

Reacting only to immediate needs—last-minute bugs, sprint deadlines—can trap teams in short-term thinking. Maryse introduces the “10-10-10” rule: when making decisions, consider the impact in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. This approach brings long-term consequences into focus, balancing both the urgent and the important. Even simple choices (like your morning sandwich) can benefit from this broader perspective; for product development, it means designing features and architectures with both current and future needs in mind.

Reflection and Journaling: Focusing on the Decision Process

Stoics famously advocated for daily reflection. Marcus Aurelius, one of the original philosopher-kings, kept a journal to contemplate decisions and principles. Maryse recommends a similar practice for software teams: keeping a decision log to review how choices were made, independent of their outcomes. As Annie Duke suggests in “Thinking in Bets,” teams should avoid “resulting”—judging decisions solely by their consequences. Logging thought processes, data considered, and the reasoning behind actions helps foster a learning culture and improves decision-making over time.

Temperance and Turning Inward: The Value of Self-Restraint

With endless opportunities and experiments available, Maryse champions the value of temperance: doing only what’s necessary, resisting impulse, and focusing deeply on what matters now. This aligns with agile’s emphasis on working smart and applying limited resources wisely. Sometimes, the best move is to pause, reflect, and listen to your own moral compass—a final lesson she calls “turning inward,” drawing from meditation and self-awareness to avoid burnout and better serve the team.

Ancient Tools for Modern Teams

Stoicism isn’t just for philosophers—it’s a practical toolkit for navigating today’s complex, unpredictable software environments. By rethinking outcomes, preparing for setbacks, planning with a long view, and reflecting on our choices, agile teams don’t just build better products. They become more resilient, sustainable, and present in every line of code.