Once you become an engineering executive, an invisible timer starts ticking in the background. Tick tick tick. At some point that timer will go off, at which point someone will rush up to you demanding an engineering strategy. It won’t be clear what they mean, but they will want it, really, really badly. If we just had an engineering strategy, their eyes will implore you, things would be okay. For a long time, those imploring eyes haunted me, because I simply didn’t know what to give them...| lethain.com
Harness the power and approachability of wireframes, to develop design concepts from idea to prototype.| A Book Apart
Occasionally folks tell me that I should “write full time.” I’ve thought about this a lot, and have rejected that option because I believe that writers who operate (e.g. write concurrently with holding a non-writing industry role) are best positioned to keep writing valuable work that advances the industry. This is a lightly controversial view, so I wanted to pull together my full set of thoughts on the topic. The themes I want to work through are:| lethain.com
Start doing good research faster than you can plan your next pitch.| A Book Apart
Tidy First? by Kent Beck captures the spirit of Ousterhout’s A Philosophy of Software Design while also recognizing the inherent tensions of developing software within a team and business. You can also read it in about two hours. Recommended! A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout is one of my favorite books on software design. When I heard that Kent Beck had a new book out, Tidy First?, that was deliberately engaging with similar content but a markedly different pedagogy, I kne...| lethain.com
The Value Flywheel Effect is a worthwhile read. It’s imperfect, but a fascinating look into real-world application of Wardley mapping, and a rare view of a company’s engineering strategy. I’m currently diving into the topic of engineering strategy, and a sub-topic that I’ve not previously spent much time on is Wardley maps. As I dug into it a bit more, The Value Flywheel Effect by Anderson, McCann, and O’Reilly was recommended as a primer, so I bought a copy and spend some time work...| lethain.com
Buy on O’Reilly or on Amazon. In 2019, I worked with Stripe Press to publish my first book, An Elegant Puzzle, which captured many of the lessons I’d learned as an engineering manager in fast growing Silicon Valley companies. In 2021, I decided to learn the entire process of publishing myself, self publishing my second book, Staff Engineer, which synthesized the stories of a number of individuals into a framework to attaining and operating in Staff-plus engineering roles. I wrote both boo...| lethain.com
For the past several years, I’ve run a learning circle with engineering executives. The most frequent topic that comes up is career management–what should I do next? The second most frequent topic is measuring engineering teams and organizations–my CEO has asked me to report monthly engineering metrics, what should I actually include in the report? Any discussion about measuring engineering organizations quickly unearths strong opinions. Anything but sprint points! Just use SPACE! Track...| lethain.com
Previously: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 After the past two years, it’s odd to write an annual reflection where my first thoughts are happy rather than bleak. The truth is that there is a lot of bleak out there right now–just look at the layoffs and the funding environment–but while last year was an unusual and challenging one for me, this one was relatively quiet for me and my family. That said, even a quiet year is worth a bit of introspection, so here is my annual note.| lethain.com