An Elegant Puzzle

Title: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

Author: Will Larson

Quote

“Organizational design gets the right people in the right place, empowers them to make decisions, and then holds them accountable for their results.”

Why I like it

It is a great overview of the role of an engineering manager at a mid to large sized company. It covers strategies for approaching the responsibilities of scaling teams, influence, and culture. Larson’s human-centric ideas align well with my own focus and strengths.

How I use it

Periodically, I evaluate my teams using the “Four States of a Team” framework. It helps to identify what kinds of support my teams need for what problem they are facing.

• Falling behind (Add people)

  • Caveat that hiring is a long-term systemic fix for this and more immediate actions should also be taken

• Treading Water (Reduce WIP)

• Repaying Debt (Add Time)

• Innovating (Add Slack)

I have adjusted my approach to balancing teams based on the insights I've gained from his essays. Effective interviewing and onboarding processes, while important, are time-consuming, can significantly disrupt a team's rhythm, and require a period of re-establishing team norms. To minimize this disruption, I now consolidate open roles within as few teams as possible. While this may initially cause more disruption to a single team, it ultimately allows them to find their stride more efficiently than if new team members were added every six months, requiring constant re-adjustment.