Anti-cringe rules
- Be useful: offer something (insight, feedback, small help) before you need something big.
- Be specific: “15 minutes for two questions about your team’s on-call?” beats “Can I pick your brain?”
- Be brief: 5 sentences max. Respect attention like you respect CPU cycles.
- Be normal: write like you talk at standup. No faux grandeur, no “Esteemed Sir/Madam.”
“The less you try to impress, the more human you sound.”