- Tags:: #📝CuratedNotes , [[Engineering management|Engineering Management]] Although there is [[No silver bullet essence and accident in software engineering|No Silver Bullet—Essence and Accident in Software Engineering]], I generally believe that... ## The role This is what I think: [[Déjame sin trabajo por favor|Déjame Sin Trabajo Por Favor]]. tl;dr: - [[An EM needs to be technical|An Em Needs To Be Technical]]. ^07a8f0 - North star metric: "time I spend in VSCode", as a proxy metric for "we no longer need an engineering manager", so I can either enjoy creating with my own two hands or focusing on bigger strategy problems. ^8a363d - I don't want to be a manager and I will look for ways to make myself redundant and not needed. I would love to live in a world in which we need no manager roles and I suspect these could be [[Bullshit jobs|Bullshit Jobs]]. The reality is that I haven't found a company in which the role is not needed (but have found ways to be less needed over time). ## People - [[No matter how it looks at first its always a people problem|No Matter How It Looks At First Its Always A People Problem]]. - [[Swe hiring best practices|Swe Hiring Best Practices]]. - [[Sin machirulos hay paraiso. una charla heterofriendly sobre management|Sin Machirulos Hay Paraiso]]. - [Hire Slow, Fire Fast](https://hbr.org/2014/03/hire-slow-fire-fast) ## Process - People hate it, but a good work process is key ([[Process allergy|Process Allergy]]). I've seen waaaay more problems caused by chaos and misalignment that by overfocusing on a goal. - Single Queue of Work (a queue for operative work, a queue for retro actions... that doesn't work). - A single topic per sprint. - Retrospective: - Prepare beforehand and discuss: - Delivered value. - Team metrics. - Checklists: - "Sentinel" checklist. ## Product - No complex system born being complex: it evolved from a simple system. - Build half a product, not a half-assed product (ReWork). - ["Make it work, make it right, make it fast"](https://wiki.c2.com/?MakeItWorkMakeItRightMakeItFast). - [Stop Obsessing Over Development Velocity, Focus on Impact - Itamar Gilad](https://itamargilad.com/velocity-vs-impact/) (with [[Cal newport|Cal Newport]] seal of approval on its podcast: [[Ep. 238 the joys of the reading life|Ep]]). ## Tech - Have very good reasons to hack a framework. - Have very very good reasons to build vs. buy if it's not your core business . ## Other ### Decision making - [[One way vs two way doors|One Way Vs Two Way Doors]] ### Time management Almost everything in [[The effective executive|The Effective Executive]] and [[Four thousand weeks|Four Thousand Weeks]]. Particularly: - Even if I focus on critical tasks, they will always exceed my available time. - I can only focus on one at a time. - I will timebox my efforts to avoid exceeding the attention I give to an area and to work in general. - I have to be wary of not entering into my “clearing the docks” mode. [[The human side of a bill shock|The Human Side Of A Bill Shock]].