
An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

the incremental leader enjoys and protects their cognitive capacity to create enduring solutions. They use their technical experience to help people solve their Layer 1 and 2 problems when needed because they have redesigned processes in support of that goal. This is beneficial because their intense attention is needed only on the novel portions of
... See moreSteven J. Spear • Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating Our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification
An early lesson I learned in my career was that whenever a large organization attempts to do anything, it always comes down to a single person who can delay the entire project. An engineer might get stuck waiting for a decision or a manager may think she doesn’t have authority to make a critical purchase. These small, seemingly minor hesitations ca
... See moreBen Horowitz • The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Coordination Headwind - How Organizations Are Like Slime Molds
komoroske.comThe dilemma is a cruel one. For efficiency and conceptual integrity, one prefers a few good minds doing design and construction. Yet for large systems one wants a way to bring considerable manpower to bear, so that the product can make a timely appearance. How can these two needs be reconciled? Mills's Proposal A proposal by Harlan Mills offers a f
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