EM’s might also be technical but in a different domain. The question is how much the company values expertise in a specific technical domain or even tech stack, compared to people management, product sense, etc.
I am an engineering manager and this article has brought me a lot of wisdom. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. A sentence that impacted me, by reminding me of this wise principle, was: "The best managers are first engineers, then leaders. Not the other way around."
Nice! I agree with most of what you wrote. Many of the problems with large tech orgs would be solved if the highest levels of leadership remained knowledgeable of the tech. How can they do that when the footprint is very large? Any advice or resources to point to for that?
Indeed @Alex. Whilst there is no easy-way to stay close to the technology, an EM *must* find a way to do so. "Engineer first, manager second".
However, being a manager second does not imply a lack of managerial competencies. It's another anti-pattern that occasionally occurs when exceptional engineers transition into managerial roles.
Do you see companies embrace & support? With time, even tech-savvy engineering managers may fall behind in tech, losing touch with advancements.
Thanks for the good article. I’m not an engineer but I understand what’s going on in the projects and I’m working on big software projects. What would be your advise for me, just exit the tech industry because only techies should stay their :)? Would love to discuss this with you. Cheers Hanif
Thanks for the feedback Hanif. To be frank, I don't believe that keeping a job should come at the expense of hurting the team.
Whether to leave the tech industry or not, is not for me to decide but the good news is that engineering is a skill that one can learn through education and practice. So, if you enjoy the tech industry and want to empower the team in the best way, an investment in engineering is a good step.
Talking to a senior IC about this article I learned something new: at some point he was an EM (technical) but the admin work (chasing people for time report, vacation planning, HR, scheduling activities, etc.) took a lot of his time. So he found someone who would be responsible for the admin work so he could focus on the team. I believe there's still a place in the tech industry as a supporting role for engineering managers. That role doesn't have to be technical and makes sense in larger organizations where the same person can serve multiple EMs. Regardless, this is the kind of job that AI may replace in the future. I still believe that investing in engineering skills yields the best ROI.
Hej Alex, thanks for the feedback. My question was just ironic ;). The role that you described sounds like an assistant and I agree this kind of tasks can be taken over by AI. In my role as project lead/project supervisor, the human factor aka people management is needed. Do you have any recommendations to improve engineering skills e.g. in which skills should I invest? Best Hanif
Good reflections. The Staff figure is the one representing engineers in conversations of a bigger scope. Not someone to substitute the EM/PM. Not someone to dictate, but to enable
In our organization, the staff engineers are called ‘architects’, but it’s basically the same role.
I completely agree about the responsibility and division of work you suggested. As an EM, it’s MY JOB to lead and understand the technical aspects of my team’s work. There is no problem in delegating the technical design, but you should be the one taking the final decision, and in any case - fully understand what and how it’s going to be implemented.
Thanks for this great article Alex, and thanks for the mentions.
I don't think we necessarily disagree on the topic of coding. Staying technical involves a lot more than just coding. An EM should have a solid technical background - and I mean it when I say solid - but should also be able to give up their attachment to the code and move on to other aspects: architecture, planning, etc.
And as you also mention, if prefer the approach of occasional Engineer-ications as they allow the Manager to fully focus on that specific task for a week, get a real understanding of what is going on with the team and tooling, and then take initiative out of those learnings. I see this as a much more deliberate, disciplined, and effective approach than just picking some random tasks every now and then just because "you can".
Ultimately, this is a hot topic, and the pendulum keeps swinging back and forth when it comes to the general sentiment in the industry. Definitely a subject to follow and be open-minded about
In your opinion, how do you feel about a data manager/lead becoming CTO of an org? Does such a person have enough technical experiences to adapt into that role?
I have a specific person in mind: Elizabeth Stone who recently transitioned from VP of data into a CTO at Netflix.
How "engineering" be "non-technical"? My jaws dropped reading through....
EM’s might also be technical but in a different domain. The question is how much the company values expertise in a specific technical domain or even tech stack, compared to people management, product sense, etc.
I am an engineering manager and this article has brought me a lot of wisdom. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. A sentence that impacted me, by reminding me of this wise principle, was: "The best managers are first engineers, then leaders. Not the other way around."
Thanks for your time reading and giving feedback Jonatas.
Nice! I agree with most of what you wrote. Many of the problems with large tech orgs would be solved if the highest levels of leadership remained knowledgeable of the tech. How can they do that when the footprint is very large? Any advice or resources to point to for that?
There's no easy solution, but as a Sr Staff who works with this level, I have come up with a few ways:
* Blocking some days to do coding
* Embedding to smaller units of work (e.g. I support multiple clusters but at a given quarter I'm working closely with 1-2 of them)
@sergio visioni also wrote about this topic here: https://makemeacto.substack.com/p/should-engineering-managers-code?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
and
https://makemeacto.substack.com/p/why-i-did-my-first-engineer-ication?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
Indeed @Alex. Whilst there is no easy-way to stay close to the technology, an EM *must* find a way to do so. "Engineer first, manager second".
However, being a manager second does not imply a lack of managerial competencies. It's another anti-pattern that occasionally occurs when exceptional engineers transition into managerial roles.
Do you see companies embrace & support? With time, even tech-savvy engineering managers may fall behind in tech, losing touch with advancements.
Thanks for the good article. I’m not an engineer but I understand what’s going on in the projects and I’m working on big software projects. What would be your advise for me, just exit the tech industry because only techies should stay their :)? Would love to discuss this with you. Cheers Hanif
Thanks for the feedback Hanif. To be frank, I don't believe that keeping a job should come at the expense of hurting the team.
Whether to leave the tech industry or not, is not for me to decide but the good news is that engineering is a skill that one can learn through education and practice. So, if you enjoy the tech industry and want to empower the team in the best way, an investment in engineering is a good step.
Talking to a senior IC about this article I learned something new: at some point he was an EM (technical) but the admin work (chasing people for time report, vacation planning, HR, scheduling activities, etc.) took a lot of his time. So he found someone who would be responsible for the admin work so he could focus on the team. I believe there's still a place in the tech industry as a supporting role for engineering managers. That role doesn't have to be technical and makes sense in larger organizations where the same person can serve multiple EMs. Regardless, this is the kind of job that AI may replace in the future. I still believe that investing in engineering skills yields the best ROI.
Hej Alex, thanks for the feedback. My question was just ironic ;). The role that you described sounds like an assistant and I agree this kind of tasks can be taken over by AI. In my role as project lead/project supervisor, the human factor aka people management is needed. Do you have any recommendations to improve engineering skills e.g. in which skills should I invest? Best Hanif
Good reflections. The Staff figure is the one representing engineers in conversations of a bigger scope. Not someone to substitute the EM/PM. Not someone to dictate, but to enable
In our organization, the staff engineers are called ‘architects’, but it’s basically the same role.
I completely agree about the responsibility and division of work you suggested. As an EM, it’s MY JOB to lead and understand the technical aspects of my team’s work. There is no problem in delegating the technical design, but you should be the one taking the final decision, and in any case - fully understand what and how it’s going to be implemented.
Thanks for this great article Alex, and thanks for the mentions.
I don't think we necessarily disagree on the topic of coding. Staying technical involves a lot more than just coding. An EM should have a solid technical background - and I mean it when I say solid - but should also be able to give up their attachment to the code and move on to other aspects: architecture, planning, etc.
And as you also mention, if prefer the approach of occasional Engineer-ications as they allow the Manager to fully focus on that specific task for a week, get a real understanding of what is going on with the team and tooling, and then take initiative out of those learnings. I see this as a much more deliberate, disciplined, and effective approach than just picking some random tasks every now and then just because "you can".
Ultimately, this is a hot topic, and the pendulum keeps swinging back and forth when it comes to the general sentiment in the industry. Definitely a subject to follow and be open-minded about
What an incredibly insightful post.
In your opinion, how do you feel about a data manager/lead becoming CTO of an org? Does such a person have enough technical experiences to adapt into that role?
I have a specific person in mind: Elizabeth Stone who recently transitioned from VP of data into a CTO at Netflix.