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The Many Avatars of an Engineering Manager: A Journey of Leadership and Adaptation

Introduction: Engineering managers are the unsung heroes behind the successful execution of any technical project. They play a pivotal role in guiding and supporting their teams to overcome challenges, achieve objectives, and foster a collaborative and innovative work environment. Like chameleons, engineering managers wear different avatars throughout their careers to tackle diverse responsibilities and situations. Let's explore the various personas that an engineering manager embodies during their journey of leadership and adaptation. 1. The Mentor: One of the earliest avatars an engineering manager embraces is that of a mentor. As team members look up to their manager for guidance and support, this role requires the manager to nurture and develop the potential of each individual. They offer advice, share knowledge, and provide constructive feedback to help team members grow both professionally and personally. A successful mentor empowers their team, fostering...
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Agile Cooking: Backlog Grooming, Planning, and Execution with a Dash of Leftover Magic

Introduction: Agile development methodologies have revolutionized the software industry, enabling teams to deliver high-quality products in a flexible and efficient manner. But have you ever wondered if the principles of agile could be applied outside the realm of coding? Surprisingly, meal making shares many similarities with agile development, particularly in terms of backlog grooming, planning, and execution. In this blog post, we will explore how these two seemingly unrelated fields converge, and how leftover food management can be analogous to waste management in agile projects. Backlog Grooming: From Ingredients to Task Prioritization In agile development, backlog grooming involves refining and prioritizing the tasks needed to achieve project goals. Similarly, meal making begins with identifying the ingredients available. Just as developers assess the value and complexity of user stories, cooks evaluate the ingredients' freshness, taste, and compatibility to decide ...
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Navigating Chaos: The Cynefin Framework for Engineering Managers in Startups

In the fast-paced world of startups, engineering managers often find themselves grappling with complex problems, uncertain environments, and rapidly changing circumstances. It is in such chaos that the Cynefin framework, a sense-making model, can offer valuable guidance. By understanding and leveraging this framework, engineering managers can effectively navigate the intricacies of their roles, make informed decisions, and foster innovation within their teams. The Cynefin framework, developed by Dave Snowden, provides a toolset to analyze and make sense of complex situations. It offers five domains that represent different types of problems: Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic, and Disorder. Each domain requires distinct approaches and strategies for problem-solving. Let's delve into each domain and understand their implications for engineering managers. Disorder Domain The disorder domain represents a state of confusion and ambiguity, where the nature of a problem is unkno...
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Do you have a SPOF on the team?

In software development, having a single point of failure can be devastating to a project's success. When a project relies on a single person or component, and if that person or component fails, the entire project fails as well. As an engineering manager, it's your responsibility to mitigate the risks of single points of failure in your team. In this article, we'll explore how engineering managers can mitigate single points of failure in software development teams using examples from mythology and history. Mythology has several examples of SPOFs. In Greek mythology, the hero Achilles was invulnerable, except for his heel, which was his only weak point. When he was struck there by an arrow, he died. Similarly, in Hindu mythology, the demon king Ravana had a magical power that made him invincible, except for a small part of his body. When Rama, the hero of the story, discovered his weak spot and attacked him there, Ravana was defeated. In history, there have been sev...
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The Art of Balancing Contractors and Full-Time Employees: Lessons from Mythology and History

In today's fast-paced business world, companies are faced with a multitude of decisions when it comes to building their workforce. One of the biggest decisions that companies face is whether to hire contractors or full-time employees. This decision can be challenging, as there are pros and cons to both options, and each company's needs are unique. To make the right decision, companies must weigh several factors and consider the right framework. We can learn valuable lessons from both Eastern and Western mythology, as well as historical events, to guide us in this decision. The use of contractors and full-time employees can be seen in mythology, from the Greek god Hephaestus and his assistants, to the Norse god Thor and his temporary assistants. In these myths, we can see that contractors were often hired for their specialized skills and knowledge to achieve specific goals and objectives. Similarly, historical events provide examples of the appropriate use of contractors...
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Make work visible

To make work visible for an Agile team using Scrum or Kanban, you can use the following techniques: Scrum: Use a Sprint Backlog: This is a prioritized list of tasks that the team needs to complete during the sprint. Use a physical or virtual task board: This board displays the state of each task and is updated regularly by the team members. Use Burn-down charts: These charts help to track the team's progress and identify any issues that may be preventing them from completing work. Kanban: Use a Kanban board: This board displays the state of each task, and tasks are moved from left to right as they are completed. Use Visual signals: Use color-coded cards or sticky notes to show the state of each task and identify any issues. Limit Work-in-Progress: Set limits on the number of tasks that can be in progress at any given time, to focus the team on completing work. Regardless of which methodology is used, it's important to keep ...
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What is your leadership style?

I have been asked this question in all interviews for roles that have lead, mentor and coach other engineers or stakeholders. The only place I haven't been asked this question was at a startup where I was supposed to manage engineers. One of the main reasons that it wasn't asked is that the Engineering Manager role is not well defined there. I had to learn this fact in a painful way at the end. So what are the different leadership styles for a manager? There might be more but I have come across the following basic ones Leadership is an important aspect of any organization or society. Leaders are responsible for guiding their followers towards a common goal or objective. There are many different leadership styles, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. In this blog, we will explore some of the different leadership styles, with instances from mythology. Autocratic Leadership Autocratic leadership is a style in which the leader makes all decisions without input from ...
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