Showing items from Engineering

The Open Door Policy: Efficacy, Reality, and What It Really Signals

An “open door policy” is a staple of leadership vocabulary. Most leaders say they have one. Most employees know the phrase. But in practice, the efficacy and impact of that policy are far more nuanced than the phrase suggests.

Over the years leading engineering organizations of different sizes, I’ve seen the open door policy work beautifully. I’ve also seen it fall flat. The difference isn’t about whether the door is literally open. It’s about trust, clarity, and intent.

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Managing Managers: A Very Short Director's Guide to Engineering Leadership

After more than a decade leading engineering teams and managing dozens of managers across multiple companies, I’ve learned that managing managers is fundamentally different from managing individual contributors. The leverage is enormous. A great manager can multiply the effectiveness of an entire team. A struggling manager can create cascading problems that take months to resolve.

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Why Your Team Feels Stuck — and What to Do About It

Over the years I’ve learned that when a team feels stuck because they are constantly busy but not moving fast the answer isn’t more effort but better focus.

I’ve seen talented engineers grind through backlog after backlog, push late nights, automate everything in sight and still, somehow, progress stalls. Features pile up waiting to ship. Bugs reappear. Morale dips. And everyone wonders: What’s going wrong?

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Outcomes vs. Output: The Leadership Mindset Shift That Matters Most in Engineering

As a Director of Software Engineering, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the distinction between output and outcomes. It’s not just a matter of semantics; it’s a mindset shift that defines the difference between being busy and being effective, between a high-velocity team and a high-impact team.

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The Buck Stops Here: Why Ownership Builds Better Engineering Teams

In any software engineering organization—whether a fast-moving startup or an enterprise-scale platform—leadership style doesn’t just shape the culture; it defines it. And when things go wrong (which they will), how leaders respond sets the tone for how teams grow, communicate, and deliver.

Over the years, I’ve seen two dramatically different approaches play out: one where leaders instinctively point fingers when things go off the rails, and one where leaders step up and say, “The buck stops here.” The difference between these styles is more than philosophy—it’s a deciding factor in whether your team thrives or erodes under pressure.

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