Applying Stoic principles to everyday software work means focusing on what you can actually influence, which is how you make decisions, not on results that depend on outside factors. Three approaches help: questioning the obsession with outcomes, thinking through negative scenarios in advance, and weighing decisions with the 10-10-10 rule, that is, by their impact in ten minutes, ten months and ten years.
Key Takeaways
- In Stoic terms, the quality of a decision doesn’t depend on how it turns out: judging decisions only by their outcome means mistaking luck for good judgment.
- The principle of “premeditatio malorum” recommends planning for negative scenarios on purpose, because bad outcomes aren’t bad luck but foreseeable possibilities.
- The 10-10-10 method sharpens decisions by combining three time horizons: the impact in 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years.
- A decision log, much like the journal Marcus Aurelius kept in his Meditations, makes the way you decide visible and therefore learnable.
- The Stoic virtue of moderation keeps teams from running experiments and measures just because they are technically possible.
What Stoicism Means for Product Development
Stoicism is an ancient philosophy with a very practical side: you can apply it in your private life and in the work on products. It was shaped by figures such as Seneca, the former slave Epictetus and the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who tried to rule by Stoic principles.
Maryse Meinen works as a product owner in infrastructure and brings these principles into her day-to-day work. Her path there started privately, after the birth of her daughter, and carried over into her job from there.
What makes the transfer possible is the Stoics’ practical ambition. They didn’t want a philosophy for monasteries or mountaintops, but an attitude to live in the middle of society. Marcus Aurelius summed it up: stop talking about what makes a good person and just be one.
You Control Less Than You Think
At the heart of Stoicism is the line between what you can influence and what lies outside your control. The Stoics say most things lie outside: other people’s opinions, your body, your health, the course of events, the weather.
All you can control is what happens in your head: your perception, how you see and interpret things. That’s where you really have a choice.
For product development, this idea has direct consequences. It leads to the claim that the outcome is a poor anchor, because too many outside factors affect it.
Why You Should Rethink the Focus on Outcomes
Product teams focus on outcomes almost by reflex. Ask any agile coach, Scrum Master or product owner and you’ll hear: outcome-oriented. Maryse offers a Stoic counterpoint.
You can’t control the outcome, because too many factors are in play. What you can control is your decision-making: how you arrive at a decision.
Instead of fixating on growth, more customers and more clicks, it pays to use a moral compass. Stoic values such as courage, justice and moderation can form that compass. Make decisions by these values, not by an outcome that isn’t in your hands anyway.
Expect the Bad Before It Happens
The Stoic principle of “premeditatio malorum” means thinking bad things through in advance and preparing for them. Life is unfair, bad things happen to everyone, and that isn’t an unusual run of bad luck. It’s normal.
A simple picture: if you’re planning a wedding in Munich in October, expect the weather to turn. You can’t control the weather. You can prepare for it.
Testing has known this principle for a long time. Tests don’t just check the happy path. They assume something will go wrong. The same attitude belongs in product planning.
Scenario planning follows from this. You develop scenarios for your product goals and deliberately play through the negative ones as well, not just the ideal ones.
How the 10-10-10 Principle Changes Decisions
The 10-10-10 principle looks at every decision across three time horizons: the next 10 minutes, the next 10 months and the next 10 years. Maryse picked it up from a book by former professional poker player Annie Duke.
Product teams usually think in a short window. What does this decision do for me right now? Sometimes that’s the right question. If you’re waiting at a red light, you should think in exactly a 10-second horizon.
For decisions that carry weight, that’s not enough. You have to play the same step through for 10 months and 10 years. Only the long horizon is the truly Stoic perspective.
Balance matters. The principle isn’t an invitation to retreat into pure long-term planning and overlook what’s right in front of you. You live and decide in your current situation. The 10-10-10 view simply brings the wider perspective closer.
Judge Decisions by Their Quality, Not Their Outcome
People judge a decision by how it turned out. Annie Duke calls this “resulting,” and it’s a thinking error. The quality of the outcome says nothing about the quality of the decision.
An example: someone quits their job for a shiny startup. If the startup gets sold and the person gets rich, people call it a good decision. If the startup goes under and the person ends up burned out and broke, people call it a bad one. The decision itself was identical in both cases. Only the outcome was different.
“We tend to judge decisions by the outcome, not by the actual quality of the decision-making.”
(Maryse Meinen)
Once you take this to heart, you stop congratulating yourself on good outcomes and beating yourself up over bad ones, and look at the process behind them instead.
Keep a Decision Journal
Reflection is a core Stoic principle. We only know Stoic philosophy at all because Marcus Aurelius kept his “Meditations” as a journal, partly while he was on campaign in Germania.
For work and private life alike, a decision log is worth keeping: a journal about how you make decisions, not about how they turn out. That protects you from resulting and makes your process visible.
A few concrete steps help you keep such a log:
- Collect data where you can, but accept that you will never know everything.
- Make decisions smaller, just as you break down large items in refinement to keep track of them.
- Place smaller bets instead of big ones.
- Note when and under what circumstances you make good decisions: without rushing, without time pressure, without the hunger that comes at the end of a long workday.
There will always be decisions made under pressure. But if you make journaling a habit, you train an inner voice that speaks up at the right moment: this feels good for the next 10 minutes, but probably not in the long run.
Moderation Means Not Doing Everything That’s Possible
Moderation is a Stoic value that translates directly into product work. It means restraint: not reacting to the first impulse, not immediately building whatever seems feasible.
A common misunderstanding needs clearing up. Stoicism doesn’t mean having no feelings. People have feelings. The idea is not to react to them by reflex, because your own judgment is the only thing you can control.
In infrastructure, you can run all sorts of unusual experiments simply because the skills are there. This is exactly where moderation comes in, with two questions: Do we really need to do this? And do we really need to do it now?
Maryse half-jokingly calls herself a lazy product owner who would rather leave something alone unless it’s really necessary. What looks like laziness is restraint in practice. A good product owner says no when in doubt.
Turn Inward and Trust Your Compass
The fourth, complementary lesson is to turn inward. There are countless things a team could do. Sometimes the better move is to take a step back and act with more care.
That can be meditation or another form of reflection. The title of Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” already carries the idea in its name.
Turning inward doesn’t mean withdrawing from society. You remain part of it. You just step aside for a moment, look inward and trust your own moral compass before you carry on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an ancient philosophy like Stoicism even be applied to modern product work?
Yes, because the Stoics themselves were practical thinkers. Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius didn’t want a philosophy for monasteries or mountaintops, but rather an attitude to be lived out in the midst of society. Marcus Aurelius put it this way: Stop talking about what makes a good person, and just be one. It is precisely this approach that makes the principles applicable in everyday work.
Why is a strong focus on outcomes problematic in product teams?
Because the outcome is beyond your control. Too many external factors influence every outcome to make it a fixed point of reference. You can only influence your decision-making, that is, the path to the decision. Instead of using growth, customers, and clicks as benchmarks, it’s better to rely on a moral compass grounded in values such as courage, justice, and moderation.
How can you tell if a decision is good if not by the outcome?
By the quality of the process behind it. Annie Duke calls the confusion between outcome and decision quality “resulting.” Example: Someone who quits their job to join a startup has made the same decision, regardless of whether the startup is later sold or goes bankrupt. Only the outcome differs. Those who understand this don’t celebrate lucky breaks as a sign of good judgment.
What does negative scenario planning have to do with software testing?
Both follow the same mindset. Tests don’t just check the “happy flow”; they assume that something will go wrong. The Stoic principle “premeditatio malorum” demands exactly that for product planning: Develop scenarios for product goals while consciously running through negative outcomes as well, because bad results are normal and predictable.
When is short-term thinking legitimate in decision-making?
When the situation demands it. If you’re standing at a red light, you should think in terms of a ten-second timeframe. For critical decisions, that short window isn’t enough; those require a 10-month or 10-year horizon. However, this principle isn’t an invitation to focus solely on long-term planning: you continue to make decisions based on your current situation.
What do you record in a decision-making journal?
The path to the decision, not the outcome. This includes: gathering data, but accepting that you’ll never know everything. Breaking decisions down into smaller steps, similar to how large items are broken down during refinement. Making smaller bets instead of placing big wagers. And note the circumstances under which you make good decisions, for example without time pressure and without feeling hungry after a long workday.
Does Stoicism mean suppressing emotions at work?
No, that’s a common misconception. People have emotions, and Stoicism doesn’t deny that. The idea is not to react to them reflexively, because your own assessment of a situation is the only thing you can control. Perception and interpretation are up to you; the course of events is not.
How does Stoic moderation help prevent too many experiments and actions?
It poses two questions: Do we really need to do this? And do we really need to do it right now? Especially in infrastructure, it’s easy to run a lot of outlandish experiments simply because the capability is there. Moderation means exercising restraint rather than reacting to your first impulse. A good product owner says “no” when in doubt.
