Watch with awe and amazement at how quickly an engineer will become totally annoyed by inefficiency.
I believe email-based status reports are the clearest and best signs of managerial incompetence and laziness. 
Good design isn't about making decisions for your users, it's about making those decisions irrelevant.
Managers tell you where you are, leaders tell you where you're going. 
Your work speaks for you.
Criticism is the best sign you're onto something.
Start with something messy, get to the point, get an editor, and make it good.
