Engineering Management for the Rest of Us

by Sarah Drasner

conflicts are the result of a misalignment of values, and neither person is attempting malice against the other.

“All criticism, attack, insults, and judgments vanish when we focus attention on hearing the feelings and needs behind a message.”

That “not feeling right” feeling can be a good indicator of things we need to address. Values misalignment can impact our morale long-term and even lead to burnout if not addressed for a long time.

You express what you value in practice by what you let into your life, what actions you actually take, and how you spend your time.

If I don’t create boundaries to protect my core values, I eventually feel misaligned, like my life’s work isn’t lining up with my needs, and that’s not sustainable.

Anything that provides clarity for your staff can be helpful.

“I am a ‘fix it’ person and will default to trying to fix your problems. If you want to vent, that’s absolutely fine by me. But you may have to let me know that’s what you want, because otherwise I will try to problem solve, and that can be frustrating. Just tell me what you need.”

Your job is now to align people to the outcomes instead of tactical details of how to get something done. The how is up to them. It’s okay to make suggestions when they’re stuck. It’s okay to align on a reasonable delivery date for these outcomes. It’s expected that you talk about requirements for the project, be curious and gain context for the work, and offer suggestions.

More than anything else, we have to be clear. At times we have to provide clarity where none exists.

I have seen more damage done in situations where people failed to change than those who made mistakes during change. In an industry that moves as quickly as technology, you have more to lose by staying still.

identity thing can be a pitfall because, if you

directly responsible individual because that’s also core to deciding who this person is. That is the person who is going to own the outcome. This demonstrates why everyone who attends a meeting can’t have equal say. If it’s your project, and you are on the line for the outcome of whatever decisions are made, you can see how you will also need to own the decision-making.

“You have to know your preferences well, because no matter what you do, someone will tell you you’re wrong.”

Most truly innovative concepts challenge the status quo.

“Measure What Matters” suggests the 70 percent rule: be comfortable with only succeeding 70 percent of the time.

Your OKRs don’t have to be the same as your peers across functions, but your peers should agree that what you’ve set out to do is important, be willing to help, and vice versa.

partner with a product function for the what while you address the how and how fast.

If we constantly work on tasks without taking the time to think bigger, we risk being tactical rather than strategic. We can end up working in a silo, which can lead to burnout and anxiety. We risk opportunities to spot errors early and to reduce technical debt16.

Wait until perfection to put it out and you stand to burn out a team, lose profit, and be slow to market. Put it out while it’s half-baked, and your audience will lose trust and not come back when you feel like it’s finally complete.

never put out an MVP you’re not willing to let lie.

A team that’s motivated, has psychological safety with you and among themselves, has good developer experience within their tech stack, and feels aligned with the company’s goals will always perform better than one that isn’t. These ideas are connected with speed of execution.

Do you have an appropriate language or style guide in place, as well as linting systems so that PR reviews aren’t getting stalled on stylistic details?

the more your team shows that it can deliver, the more you build trust with other organizations as well!

Product may have conflicts, either with the work itself or the time involved. This can strain the relationship between product and engineering. If they are caught by surprise, you can potentially find the boundaries of your work getting more restrictive.

Once you figure out what problem you want to tackle, it’s critical to write up a small one-sheeter that you can share with stakeholders. This will cover the nature of the work, the amount of time it’s going to take, and why it’s important.

Technical debt is one of the most common ways to unlock your team. For every feature you write, if engineering effort is slowed, you’re not only losing time in terms of product development, you’re also losing money in terms of engineering time in salary.

Create Systems “If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.” —James Clear, Atomic Habits

If we don’t set these boundaries, we don’t live our values, and ultimately can’t properly support our teams. Saying no feels strange and uncomfortable at first, but is an act of courage on behalf of your team, in an indirect way. This is a hard job. Take care of yourself, it’s the best way to take care of your team.

In The Happiness Advantage, author Shawn Achor discusses the Tetris Effect. That is, if you start thinking about something a lot, you begin to notice it everywhere. And applying that to a gratitude practice can allow you to see what you might be grateful for that you could otherwise miss in the day-to-day.