Executive Engineering is a Branch Non-Fiction Book about running a technical organization as a Technical Executive. Executive Engineering is influenced by Team Topologies. Cantyâs perspective on org design, Technical Coherence, derive from that work.
Argues that the job a CTO is delivering real value faster.
Forward Motion is thrust - drag. Thrust comes from autonomous engineers understanding a problem, the technologies needed to solve it, and the path to get there. Drag is the bureaucracy and complexity that slows down engineering.
Forward motion can be maximized through Technical Coherence, careful Technical Debt financing, and empowering engineering through policy and culture.
Key Ideas
- Defining and Increasing engineering velocity
- Shaping an engineering org structure via Technical Coherence
- Managing tech debt via technical debt financing
- Empowered Teams
Quotes
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I find that the technical problems in large engineering orgs are often identical in shape to problems at tiny startups - just blown up across more code and data.
Quote
To support your CEO you must first make sure Engineering is working fast enough on the right things. Then you need to prove that to the CEO.
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The smartest CTOs I know donât tolerate conversations about âvelocity.â Not âengineering velocityâ or âproduct velocityâ â they redirect the conversation to make sure thereâs a clear business strategy, then a clear product strategy to implement the business strategy, and then a technology strategy in turn. This redirection from âvelocityâ to actual goals gives an executive team real problems to fix that lead to real outcomes.
Smaller Ideas
Managing to âweird shitâ
Managing to an internal engineering process or metric (e.g. DORA) as though that metric represents value delivered. This is not that this metrics are not valuable in context, but they are not the value delivered. You wouldnât say a person is âethicalâ based on their heart rate.
The Negative Split
Much like how running PRs are achieved with a negative split, an engineering organization should seek to go fast now but go faster in the future. This can be measured with the shipped potential chart.
End of âWorking onâ
In order to get more clarity on what an engineer is âWorking onâ, ask them to clarify which of the three types of technical work. If their work is not falling into one of those buckets, further investigation needs to uncover whether it actually is critical work that needs to be elevated or the employee needs coaching towards more valuable work.
Communication Policy
Decision Broadcasting
Quote
If a decision might affect a colleagueâs work or a customerâs experience then it must be broadcast. An if a discussion might lead to a decision then it must be broadcasted as well.
Recording Decisions
All work meetings (not social events or interpersonal 1:1s) myust publish meeting notes to a company-subscribed archived email list. Any decisions made in that meeting must be communicated under a header called âdecisionsâ so someone can search for that word in comination with other terms. Any decision nto recorded here is not decided.
Wiki Policy
- All employees must be able to edit any wiki page
- Every team manages at least one wiki page with their team chater
Cite
- Danger, J. Executive Engineering: Practical Engineering Theory for Software Leaders. (The Technical Executive).
Metadata
Title:: Executive Engineering: Practical Engineering Theory for Software Leaders Year:: 2024 Publisher:: The Technical Executive ISBN:: 979-8-9897616-3-0
Abstract
Unlock the foundational principles of engineering leadership. Success in your company, with your team, requires an understanding that goes deeper than merely adopting industry best practices.This book gives you practical models and examples that help you navigate the complexities of engineering organizations. This is a birdâs-eye view of the software field that reveals how product velocity, tech debt, Agile frameworks, team charters, and product leadership all fit together and how to use these connections to deliver product value at maximum speed.Drawing from the lessons of Silicon Valley startups, Jack Danger ties together the many little complexities of engineering leadership into a unified whole and empowers engineering leaders at any size company to deliver real value to customers faster.In these pages youâll find practical tools to:
- Measure and accelerate engineering velocity
- Repair the relationship between Product and Engineering
- Uncover hidden layers within your existing team
- Make a portfolio of your technical debt.