How Engineering Managers Fail
Engineering Managers (EMs) don’t intentionally set out to fail. Instead, they are often set up for failure. But even if they are set up for …
How Engineering Managers Are Set Up To Fail
I have heard and often observed how different organisations support their Engineering Managers (EMs). A handful of companies do an excellent job, providing as many …
Advice From Facilitating 100+ Successful Online Workshops
When COVID hit in 2020 and my work transitioned from in-person to online, I focused on learning how to run great online workshops. I read …
Rewiring DRY
The Developer DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) Developers often learn the useful heuristic DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself). Having a concept repeated across a codebase many times …
How Many People Can Someone Lead?
The Short Answer A common question I hear in my technical leadership workshops is, “How many people can someone (e.g. a Tech Lead or Engineering …
Polishing Product Management Skills
Leadership roles are, by their nature, fuzzy. Look at the Engineering Manager role and you might see one of 5 common archetypes, or an even …
Look Ahead
When you’re driving a car, you shouldn’t focus on only the metre ahead of you. When you’re walking, you don’t put your entire focus on …
The Holiday Test
First-time leaders often ask, “How do you know you’ve built a high-performing team?” My response? Use the holiday test. You pass the test if you …
Software Engineering Leadership Communities
I receive a number of requests through this blog, in my workshops and through Level Up, a curated newsletter for leaders in tech about connecting …
An End of Year Retrospective Template
Updated with the end of year retrospective template for 2021. Get it here. From agile retrospectives to a personal retrospective As a person who has …