Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

A manager’s job is to take what skills they have, the ones that got them promoted, and figure out how to make them scale. They do this by building a team that accentuates their strengths and, more importantly, reinforces where they are weak.

There are unique spheres of language that exist in each part of the corporate organizational chart. Inside of each sphere is the language that is unique to the job. Engineers have one, marketing has another, and sales has yet another. In each of these groups, there are managers who must speak their native language, as well as be able to translate b

Every single person with whom you work has a vastly different set of needs. They are chaotic beautiful snowflakes. Fulfilling these needs is one way to make them content and productive. It is your full-time job to listen to these people and mentally document how they are built. This is your most important job. I know the senior VP of engineering is

Remember that for every person on the team who has a strong opinion regarding the decision, there are probably four other coworkers who just want someone to make a decision so that they can get back to work.

The nonsense was the essential lesson I learned from my first managerial Fall: when communications are down, listen hard, repeat everything, and assume nothing.

each time your company doubles in size, it needs to reinvent how it communicates, and each subsequent transformation is increasingly radical and foreign.

I ask the same question in every interview I have: “Where do you need help?” Whether it’s an individual contributor, a manager, or my new boss, I’m always curious where people see their weaknesses. A flippant “I’m solid across the board” response is a terrifying red flag.

What I find when I pitch a stranger is that the words coming out of my mouth have very little to do with the picture that’s in my head. The act of linearly mapping my thoughts into words and sentences exposes flaws or gaps in my thinking that I never find when the ideas are swirling around my head. This leads me to our next step. Write it down, thr