QFM007: Engineering Leadership Reading List - February 2024

This article outlines a structured planning process called the "W Framework," developed from the authors' experiences at Airbnb and Eventbrite, focusing on clear roles and collaboration across leadership and teams to create effective, cohesive plans. It emphasises the importance of providing context, integrating plans, and ensuring buy-in to avoid common pitfalls in planning.

This article provides crucial advice for junior software engineers starting their first job, including the importance of showing eagerness to learn, setting personal boundaries, avoiding negative influences, learning through struggle, and ensuring clear expectations for success. These guidelines aim to help newcomers navigate their early careers with confidence and a constructive mindset.

The article shares the author's personal journey and reflections on transitioning from an individual contributor in engineering to a managerial role, highlighting the increased impact, career opportunities, and challenges faced in management, alongside the struggle with corporate dynamics and social issues within teams.

The article discusses the challenge of distinguishing between valuable "best practices" and less useful "baggage" when transitioning to new roles or environments. He emphasises the importance of adopting practices that genuinely contribute to team and project success while being cautious of those that may not fit well in a new context.

This article outlines essential qualities and practices for effective technical leadership, focusing on increasing knowledge, speed, and awareness. It emphasises the importance of coaching over direct management, making quick and informed decisions, and leading by example through active coding and problem-solving.

Chris Stoneman shares his self-curated DIY MBA reading list, spanning various essential business topics such as accounting, marketing, management, global economics, strategy, creativity, and productivity, aimed at replicating an MBA education independently. This list isn't going to provide much for the experienced manager or MBA graduate, but for those looking to get a high-level overview of the concepts and topics you might find in an MBA, this might be useful.

This article emphasises that the essence of a great company culture is not found in perks like free lunches or retreats, but rather in self-reflection and leadership behaviour that fosters a positive, productive environment. Leaders set the cultural tone, making it crucial for them to embody the values and behaviours they wish to see in their team. _[ED: I'm not sure that there is ever just "one thing" when it comes to topics like culture]

This article emphasises the importance of conducting effective one-on-one meetings to manage and support employees effectively. It categorises these meetings into three types: The Update, The Vent, and The Disaster, offering strategies for handling each scenario to ensure communication remains productive and employees feel valued.

This article emphasises the importance of debunking common myths about feedback and outlines a four-step process to improve feedback skills: asking for permission, describing behaviour, highlighting impact, and encouraging future action. It also stresses building trust to make feedback more effective and creating a culture where feedback is seen as a growth tool rather than criticism.

This article discusses key factors that drive engineering experience and performance, highlighting the importance of psychological safety, trust, short feedback loops, and reducing cognitive load to enhance productivity and creativity in engineering teams.

This article debunks common myths junior developers have about becoming senior, revealing that seniority involves embracing complex responsibilities, continuous learning, and dealing with legacy systems, rather than just working with the latest technologies or having more leisure time. It emphasises the importance of problem-solving, communication, and adaptability in the tech industry.

This article discusses the shift from **RACI**, a traditional framework for defining roles and responsibilities, to **Impact Delegation**, which focuses on empowering team members with clear ownership and autonomy to achieve goals efficiently and flexibly.