PinnedLeading Software Teams with Systems ThinkingHow Systemic Leadership can help your engineering team — Leading a software team is a great challenge. It’s a group composed of highly skilled people with different profiles and aspirations who somehow still need to achieve a single objective. So how does one succeed at this task? In my career, I have been working on this question for a…Systems Thinking2 min readSystems Thinking2 min read
Published in Better Programming·Jan 30Engineering Leadership Tactics: Mind the InputHow an engineering team’s performance is defined by the work they take in — While talking about Systemic Leadership for software teams, one question that often comes up is how to apply it in practice. Yes, systems thinking makes sense, but how does an engineering manager (EM) use it in their daily work? One often overlooked aspect is how essential are the team’s inputs…Engineering Mangement6 min readEngineering Mangement6 min read
Published in Better Programming·Jan 13Engineering Leadership Tactics: Finding FocusMaking your software engineering team work less and deliver more — While talking about Systemic Leadership for software teams, one question that often comes up is how to apply it in practice. Yes, systems thinking makes sense, but how does an engineering manager (EM) use it in their daily work? While teams are different, some situations happen often enough they can…Software Engineering6 min readSoftware Engineering6 min read
Dec 14, 2022Engineering Leadership Tactics: Building AlignmentHow to find buy-in as an Engineering Manager? — Change is part of the day-to-day work of an Engineering Manager (EM). It could be because an EM is trying to improve their team’s delivery results or quality. Or they could be trying to make improvements that affect the broader organization. I have previously discussed implementing change at a high…Change Management5 min readChange Management5 min read
Dec 1, 2022Engineering Leadership Tactics: Circle of InfluenceHow to achieve change with less effort? — When working as an Engineering Manager (EM), a significant part of your time is spent attempting to improve the status quo. Continuous improvement is part of the day-to-day in tech companies, and more likely than not, there is much to improve. While we have discussed high-level tools that an EM…Systems Thinking4 min readSystems Thinking4 min read
Published in Better Programming·Oct 20, 2022The Engineering Manager’s ToolsWhat is in a manager’s toolbox? — I’ve been writing about how to use systems thinking in software engineering management. I want to continue addressing a practical point: how to make change happen as an Engineering Manager (EM). One of the realities of being an EM is that you constantly work on improving your team’s situation. For…Software Engineering5 min readSoftware Engineering5 min read
Sep 27, 2022Influencing as an Engineering ManagerHow to make change happen — I’ve been discussing how to use systems thinking in software engineering management, and so far, I have talked mostly about understanding your team and the systems within it. But once the manager does that, the real challenge begins. How does one make improvements happen? How do you act on your…Engineering Mangement4 min readEngineering Mangement4 min read
Sep 12, 2022The Systems within a Software TeamA brief insight into what is affecting your team’s results — I’ve been discussing how to apply Systems Thinking in engineering leadership and how understanding the systems and processes involving your team is the best way to get good results, both for the team and the people within it. However, that is relatively abstract. In practice, what does it mean to…Systems Thinking5 min readSystems Thinking5 min read
Sep 8, 2022There is always a SystemWhy systems thinking matters and Engineering Managers should care about it — I’ve been discussing how to apply Systems Thinking in engineering leadership, and as part of that, it is worth talking about what systems thinking is and why it is essential in software development. Starting from the beginning Systems Thinking is a broad knowledge area approaching problem-solving by understanding how all the pieces connect and…Engineering Mangement4 min readEngineering Mangement4 min read
Aug 11, 2022Project Leadership and CollaborationI’ve been recently discussing creating effective teams as Engineering Managers (EMs) and wanted to touch on an important principle: Collaboration. And how current project leadership practices make collaborating in software teams more challenging. Collaboration is key to creating an effective team. The reason for a team to exist is the…Engineering Mangement4 min readEngineering Mangement4 min read
