Eddie and Morgan are joined by guest Erin Doyle, a staff software engineer at Lob. Together, they delve into developer productivity, exploring the balance between developer experience and organizational efficiency. They discuss challenges like cognitive overload, psychological safety, and the pitfalls of productivity metrics. The conversation highlights practical steps for fostering a productive engineering environment, focusing on key concepts such as Shift Left, developer joy, and the importance of clear ownership in tackling tech debt.

Morgan and Eddie explore the often-taboo topic of money in engineering organizations by tackling listener questions about explaining layoffs and budget cuts to a team. They break down how SaaS businesses operate, the factors influencing engineering budgets, and practical strategies for managing finances as an engineering leader.

• (00:00) - Introduction and Listener's Dilemma
• (01:13) - Understanding Corporate Finance
• (01:48) - Challenges of Discussing Money
• (02:50) - SaaS Finance 101
• (04:36) - Financial Decision Making in Tech
• (08:59) - Engineering Budget Scrutiny
• (17:39) - Overhiring and Layoffs in Tech
• (21:07) - Strategies for Managing Budget Cuts
• (25:42) - Alignment of Values in Leadership
• (27:47) - Defensible Organizational Design
• (31:56) - Investment Allocation Strategies
• (33:28) - Build vs. Buy Decisions
• (35:34) - Importance of Fundamentals in Engineering
• (39:31) - Cost Consciousness and Budget Management
• (43:52) - Communicating Budget Changes to the Team
• (47:52) - Final Thoughts and Feedback

In this episode, Morgan and Eddie pivot from their usual Q&A format to discuss the crucial topic of individual performance assessment, particularly timely during mid-year reviews. They explore the complexities introduced by recent economic shifts, the significant role of perceived performance in career trajectory, and the challenges in achieving fairness and transparency. Key discussion points include the impact of luck on performance, how to consider proper sample sizes, providing actionable feedback, and the importance of regular, transparent communication. They also dive into practical solutions like separating reward and punishment from the performance cycle, fostering a team composition strategy, and considering the 'how' as much as the 'what' in evaluations. Finally, they offer strategies for just-in-time performance review preparations.

• (00:00) - The Importance of Performance Assessment
• (01:00) - Challenges of Performance Conversations
• (03:15) - The Role of Luck in Performance
• (07:31) - The Importance of Sample Size in Evaluations
• (11:00) - Feedback and Its Pitfalls
• (13:53) - Effective Performance Management Strategies
• (21:26) - Consistency and Avoiding Bias in Evaluations
• (26:56) - Growth Opportunities and Mitigating Failure
• (27:35) - Challenges with Staff Plus Roles
• (28:22) - Promotion Transparency and Organizational Honesty
• (30:27) - Role-Based Staff Plus Jobs
• (36:33) - Performance Calibration and Engineering Personas
• (41:41) - Addressing Tech Debt and Engineering Efficiency
• (44:13) - Strategies for Performance Evaluation Season
• (50:55) - The Importance of Transparency and Trust

Morgan and Eddie address a listener's concern about navigating silos in a rapidly growing engineering team. They discuss how silos form, their impact on productivity, and various strategies to break them down, such as encouraging a culture of shared responsibility, emphasizing succession planning, and proactive knowledge transfer to mitigate silo formation and promote long-term team health. They also explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of having silos and emphasize the importance of alignment and organizational design in promoting efficient knowledge sharing and team productivity.

Topics discussed:

• Understanding silos in organizations
• The human element of silos
• When silos might be beneficial
• Breaking the addiction to low-hanging fruit
• The role of leadership in managing silos
• Practical steps to break silos
• Knowledge sharing and team dynamics
• Handling too many nodes in communication

In this episode, Morgan and Eddie respond to a listener who is struggling to deliver an AI-based internal product for customer support on time. The discussion covers potential reasons for project delays, with a focus on local and global issues affecting predictability. They provide insights on proper effort estimation, managing expectations, the importance of psychological safety, and key metrics such as cycle time and cycle time variance to understand bottlenecks. They also emphasize the value of collaborative work, adaptable processes, and effective communication to improve project outcomes.

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (00:56) - Understanding the Predictability Problem
• (01:28) - Local Issues Affecting Predictability
• (10:18) - Global Issues and Organizational Challenges
• (16:31) - Strategies for Improving Predictability
• (33:27) - Final Advice for Listener
• (36:41) - Conclusion

In this episode, Eddie and Morgan discuss the significance and impact of company values, focusing on how to ensure they are effectively implemented and upheld within an organization. They explore the importance of aligning values with actions, integrating them into decision-making processes, and addressing potential pitfalls like value weaponization.

Topics covered:

• The purpose of company values
• Bridging the gap between values and actions
• Integrating values into decision-making
• Building systems that support values
• The role of transparency in value implementation
• Measuring the effectiveness of values
• Preventing value weaponization

In this episode, Eddie and Morgan explore the topic of creating ownership within teams and organizations. They discuss what it means to be an owner, how to create an environment where people feel empowered to take ownership, and the benefits of having a culture of ownership.

Topics covered:

• What does it mean to be an owner
• How to create an environment where people feel empowered to take ownership
• Benefits of having a culture of ownership

In this episode, Eddie and Morgan discuss the question of what makes an effective manager. They delve into the key competencies and attributes that effective managers possess, and explore how these competencies can be developed and improved over time.

Topics covered:

• The key competencies and attributes of effective managers
• How to develop and improve managerial competencies
• The importance of communication, feedback, and introspection in effective management
• The role of managers in hiring, developing talent, and resolving conflict
• How to measure and evaluate managerial effectiveness

Links:

• Dare to Lead - Brené Brown
• Cultural Innovation - Kevin Oaks
• Team Topologies - Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
• Engineering Management for the Rest of Us - Sarah Drasner
• The Effective Manager (2nd Edition) - Mark Horstman, Kate Braun, and Sarah Sentes
• The Coaching Habit - Michael Bungay Stanier
• The Advice Trap - Michael Bungay Stanier