QFM055: Engineering Leadership Reading List February 2025
Everything I found interesting about Engineering Leadership last month
This month’s Engineering Leadership Reading List kicks off by looking at AI’s role in engineering management. Phil Calçado’s deep dive examines back-end architecture for AI-driven products. The piece recounts the development of an AI-powered engineering assistant and the subsequent creation of Outropy, highlighting the technical and operational challenges of scaling AI systems while balancing user needs.
Despite the growth of AI, its limitations in team building are emphasised in Stack Overflow’s analysis. The article argues that while AI can generate code, it cannot replace the foundational learning and system understanding gained through junior engineering roles. Hiring junior developers remains critical for long-term sustainability and talent development in software organisations.
A shift away from traditional OKR frameworks is proposed in Jessitron’s critique. The article challenges rigid cascading OKRs, advocating instead for a model where teams articulate how their objectives contribute to broader strategic goals rather than simply aligning through hierarchical metrics.
A related organisational shift is highlighted in a study on Gen-Z professionals, which finds that many younger workers are avoiding middle management roles due to high stress and perceived lack of value. This reflects broader trends in companies like Meta that are streamlining management layers, prompting leaders to reconsider how management roles are structured. Structural changes in engineering management also appear in an analysis of corporate downsizing. The piece explores how companies are reducing management layers to cut costs and increase agility, while balancing the risks of organisational inefficiency.
The concept of technical debt is examined from two angles. Aviv Ben-Yosef argues that the term is often misapplied, urging leaders to prioritise only necessary maintenance rather than chasing perfection. Meanwhile, an alternative perspective suggests that bad code is more like an unhedged call option than debt, carrying unpredictable risks that may result in costly rewrites if ignored.
For hiring managers, LeadDev’s guide outlines red flags to identify during interviews, both from the candidate and company perspective. A well-structured interview process benefits both parties, helping ensure alignment between expectations and company culture.
Steven Sinofsky’s reflection on failed engineering strategies explores why many appealing-sounding technical ideas — such as excessive modularity or forced API exposure — often backfire in practice. The piece serves as a cautionary guide to evaluating well-intentioned but impractical engineering decisions.
Lastly, individual career growth remains a key theme, with a discussion of reputation-building in large tech companies. The article explores how an engineer’s early successes shape long-term opportunities and why reputational momentum can be difficult to reverse.
As always, the Quantum Fax Machine Propellor Hat Key will guide your browsing. Enjoy!
What Separates a 10x Codebase from an Ordinary One?: The article discusses the importance of a well-maintained and scalable codebase to enhance developer productivity. It highlights the myth that developer speed is solely due to individual skills and explores how elements like readability, simplicity, and maintainability contribute to a ‘10x’ codebase. The piece argues against the ‘10x developer’ hero complex, emphasizing that an excellent codebase allows all team members to excel rather than relying on individual ‘heroes’.
#Codebase #DeveloperProductivity #CodingBestPractices #10x #SoftwareDevelopment
There Hasn’t Been Much if Any Reduction in WFH in over Two Years, Despite the Hype about RTO: Despite extensive media coverage and company mandates pushing for Return-to-Office (RTO), the shift from Working-From-Home (WFH) policies has not significantly increased office attendance over the past two years. Data suggests that actual office occupancy remains relatively low, with Kastle’s back-to-work barometer indicating occupancy rates in major U.S. markets at only 54% of pre-Covid levels. Hybrid work arrangements remain prevalent, with companies like Google, Microsoft, and Adobe enforcing a few in-office days, while others like Nvidia and Airbnb maintain fully remote setups.
#WFH #RemoteWork #HybridWork #RTO #OfficeTrends
In the Trenches: What it Means to be an Engineering Manager: This article offers personal reflections and insights into the realities of leading technical teams. It stresses the importance of balancing technical objectives with understanding the human aspect of management. Through various case studies, the author highlights the complexities of integrating technology with team dynamics and the critical role of an Engineering Manager in fostering a supportive environment where engineers thrive.
#EngineeringManagement #Leadership #TechTeams #PersonalGrowth #Inspiration
Tech’s war on middle management is just getting started: In a shift against traditional corporate structures, the tech industry is leading efforts to downsize middle management in favor of more streamlined, cost-effective operations. Influential figures like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Shopify’s Tobias Lütke advocate for flatter hierarchies, promoting efficiency and rapid decision-making. However, the move has sparked debates about potential negative impacts on employee well-being and work-life balance.
#TechTrends #Management #Leadership #Efficiency #Innovation
Object Oriented Programming Deemed Irrelevant: In this article, O. Girardot discusses the current trends and shifts in programming paradigms. Girardot highlights how object-oriented programming (OOP), once the dominant force in software development with languages like Java, C#, and C++, is now criticized for being overly complex and inefficient for modern needs. Despite this criticism, the principles of OOP such as abstraction and encapsulation still hold value and influence, even as many developers and bootcamps shift toward scripting and functional languages.
#OOP #ProgrammingTrends #SoftwareDevelopment #Java #Technology
7 Common Mistakes in Architecture Diagrams: The Ilograph blog discusses the common pitfalls in creating technical architecture diagrams. It emphasizes the importance of concrete over theoretical diagrams, the dangers of mixing different abstraction levels, and the confusion caused by busyness and unlabeled arrows. The article advises avoiding misleading compositions, providing necessary context, and supplementing diagrams with explanatory text to ensure clarity and effective communication.
#Architecture #Diagrams #TechMistakes #Ilograph #DesignTips
Don’t Call Yourself a Senior Until You’ve Worked on a Legacy Project: Alen Kosanovic, a senior developer at Infobip, discusses the challenges of working on legacy projects and how they can deepen understanding of modern practices. Through personal experience, he highlights the outdated methods used in older projects, including the use of Ant build files, and notes the lessons learned about dependency injection and the role of different teams in software development. He emphasizes that while legacy projects may be frustrating, they provide valuable insights into the evolution of current best practices and foster a deeper respect for historical coding processes.
#LegacyCode #SoftwareDevelopment #BestPractices #CodingChallenges #Infobip
Product management is broken. Engineers can fix it: In the newsletter post by James Hawkins, he discusses the traditional dynamics between product managers (PMs) and engineers in product development settings, arguing that engineers should play a more central role in making product decisions. Initially resistant to hiring PMs at PostHog, Hawkins recounts how he observed engineers constructively influencing the product strategy when given autonomy and responsibility. The article suggests flipping the conventional workflow, allowing engineers to drive decisions and product directions, while PMs support by providing essential context and insights, fostering a culture of speed, innovation, and accountability.
#ProductManagement #Engineering #Innovation #TeamWork #Leadership
Unlocking the Power of Hypothesis-Driven Consulting: How AI Makes the MBB Approach Accessible to All: The article explores how artificial intelligence is breaking traditional barriers in strategy consulting by making the hypothesis-driven methodology accessible to smaller firms. Historically reserved for major consultancies like McKinsey and Bain, this method involves structured problem-solving that AI tools like Hypothesis3 now simplify and democratize. With AI, firms of any size can attain the rigor and insight of larger consultancies, leveling the competitive playing field and elevating strategic impacts.
#AIRevolution #Consulting #HypothesisDriven #Technology #BusinessImpact
Regards,
M@
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Originally published on quantumfaxmachine.com and cross-posted on Medium.
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