Does this sound familiar?
I’m using this example in the book I’m writing, and want to see if this sounds familiar to you. Ananya: “Marcus, which class should contain the method to check if we have new orders? I need to add it for the feature I’m working on today.” Marcus: The OrderUpdate class would be good. Ananya: Okay, […]
If only I’d had more time
I was having dinner with some colleagues last night, and toward the end, one of them said to me, “I’ve noticed a theme when you describe your life. You seem to make time to think.” “That true, but it wasn’t always so,” I replied. “Most of my working life I only made time to do, […]
How Buffer.com Develops Engineering Leadership Skills From Day 1 With Katie Womersley
Episode 11 There is an inherent difference between leaders and managers that is often overlooked. While most think that leaders are “born,” Katie Womersley, VP of Engineering at Buffer, disagrees. Leaders and managers both require skills that can be taught, and developing those employees from within the company can be the most timely and economically […]
”Grown up” issues
I believe 99% of issues which get people fired were “no big deal” at one point. But then, the issues “grew up.” Pull the weeds while they’re small, and you’ll need weed killer less often. TL;DR When a manager sees something that concerns them, they may turn a blind eye, hoping the issue will resolve […]
What Jack (probably) thought about being fired
On Wednesday I mentioned that I’d fired Jack out-of-the-blue rather than put him on a PIP. He didn’t pick up on my “performance hints”, so he never really knew there was a problem. Or, at least, he didn’t know how serious the problem was. I didn’t use any formal warning processes (e.g. formal verbal, written […]
Imagine the Possibilities: How to Break Ties That Hinder Our Potential
Episode 10 Often times people find themselves in a place where they feel trapped or stagnant in their lives. It can be trapped in a job or in a relationship and making a change may not always be the easiest thing to do. Because we are human, we find ourselves in situations where it is […]
Use a PIP, or just fire them?
If you’ve been on my list for a while now, you know I want to help you become a better tech manager. One way I do this is by helping you see situations from new perspectives, often your team’s perspective. Because it’s easy to forget that there are other perspectives. So easy that I committed […]
My haunted closet
There is a tiny closet in the front room of the beach house where I’m staying this week, in Santa Cruz, CA. The closet has no light switch. Instead, the inside light is on a motion sensor. At 2 am, I got up for a drink of water and froze in my tracks. I could […]
”Nah” – Rosa Parks
I shuffle when I walk, which means I kinda drag my feet on the ground. This results in ’scuffing’ along, as my father put it. You can think of this shuffling as a system that’s balanced when my action (shuffling feet) is met with a particular reaction (dirt or gravel which give way) in a […]
Using Performance Improvement Plans the Right Way
Episode 9 Performance improvement plans (PIP) are difficult not just for the employee receiving the plan but also for the boss and others in upper management deciding to implement one. It’s easy for the employee to be upset or angry when put on a PIP but if used correctly, they can be a valuable tool […]
From Engineer to Executive: An Interview with Eric Muntz of MailChimp
Episode 8 If you’ve ever wondered about what it could look like to go from being an engineer to the senior executive level of your company, you won’t want to miss this episode. This week on the Programming Leadership podcast, Marcus interviews Eric Muntz, the Senior Vice President of Engineering at MailChimp. They discuss Eric’s […]
You can borrow my teaching style
If the thought of leading in-house training sounds like as much fun as a root canal, this email’s for you. Especially training with a name like “Engineering Leadership Training,” right? Let me offer a super-simple idea for a zero-level training you could start today. Here’s how it might work: Setup (30m) Choose a book on […]
Let’s play “name that bias”
My sister has twin 4-year old kids, a boy, and a girl. Both have autism and are on different points of the ASD spectrum. I was having lunch with them on Sunday, for Fathers Day, and I noticed something interesting. Our waitress happened to mention that her two-year-old son doesn’t like loud noise. My sister […]
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.
Leaders need to understand that mental models are the lens through which we see reality, indirectly. Otherwise, we fall into the bias of Naïve Realism, believing that we see things objectively, as they “really” are. This is a problem because it makes us sure that what we perceive is true and correct. And being sure […]
Push training vs. Pull training
In the 1980s there were some studies about what motivates programmers, based on Job Characteristics Theory. You probably aren’t surprised to learn that a key motivating factor is “growth.” This is more than just career growth – it’s improving tech skills, communication skills, leadership and management skills, and even understanding ourselves better. You might even […]