From Columbo to Coworker

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

TL;DR: Running many interactive AI agents at once feels like Lieutenant Columbo lives in your terminal: every few minutes one turns around with “just one more thing.” I have been treating the fix as a management problem rather than a tooling problem — run agents like a team with four ceremonies: a morning standup, grooming and delegation, office hours for blockers, and an evening collection. Twelve days in, the headless half works better than I expected. The interactive half still interrupts me more than a good coworker would. This is a mid-journey report, not a victory lap.

“Just One More Thing”

If you have ever watched Columbo, you know the move. The detective shuffles toward the door, the suspect relaxes, and then he turns around: “Just one more thing.” The case cracks open on that line. It is brilliant television. It is a terrible way to run your afternoon.

schristoph.online

From Columbo to Coworker

“Just One More Thing”