QFM043: Engineering Leadership Reading List - November 2024

Source: Photo by yns plt on Unsplash

We begin this month’s Engineering Leadership Reading List with The Cynefin Framework Overview, a practical tool for leaders seeking to understand and operate effectively within different levels of complexity. Its emphasis on sense-making and adaptive decision-making sets the stage for broader discussions on navigating complexity, a recurring theme this month. Similarly, How to Delegate Effectively as Your Responsibility Grows provides actionable advice for leaders managing increasing demands, highlighting the importance of accountability and fostering independence within teams.

On the technical side, Exploring D2: A Declarative Diagramming Language showcases how declarative tools can enhance productivity in engineering workflows. This exploration of simplifying processes ties into 4 Ways to Technically Upskill Engineers, which outlines structured approaches for managers to help their teams transition from technical proficiency to fluency through self-directed learning and reflection.

Team dynamics and feedback feature prominently in Why You Should Have 1:1s with Your Peers and Why You’re Bad at Giving Feedback. Both articles examine the importance of fostering open communication and building trust within teams, offering practical strategies for improving collaboration and interpersonal skills. These ideas are extended in How to Give a Senior Leader Feedback (Without Getting Fired), which focuses on navigating hierarchical challenges while ensuring feedback is constructive.

Broader reflections on innovation and learning emerge in Learning by the Blade or From the Chalice, which uses metaphor to explore different modes of collaboration and decision-making, encouraging a balance between decisiveness and nurturing approaches. This ties into philosophical discussions on professional growth, such as The Power of Anti-Goals, where a contrarian approach to productivity highlights the value of designing workdays to avoid burnout and unwanted tasks.

Lastly, we turn to technical leadership challenges in specialised fields. Engineers Do Not Get To Make Startup Mistakes When They Build Ledgers addresses the unique demands of fintech engineering, advocating for robust systems and highlighting the risks of overlooking foundational principles like double-entry accounting. This focus on precision and reliability is complemented by VC School: What’s a Venture Scale Business?, which breaks down what it means for a business to be venture-scale, providing a strategic lens for evaluating growth potential and market impact.

As always, the Propellor Hat Key will guide your reading. Enjoy!

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Regards,
M@

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Originally published on quantumfaxmachine.com and cross-posted on Medium.

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