Thread by @mipsytipsy

Almost two years ago I wrote "The Engineer/Manager Pendulum", where I argued that moving back and forth is not only a legitimate career choice, it's the how the best technical leaders are forged (and stay sharp). charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the…

(I also wrote a followup, on the choice managers face between climbing the ladder and staying connected to the technical side: charity.wtf/2019/01/04/eng…)

It seemed to hit a nerve. I've never had such a sustained outpouring of responses to anything else I've written. Two years later, and still not a week goes by without someone bringing up the pendulum piece.

Today it was @_pkill asking about any further resources or writings.

I answered as I always do, that I'm not aware of any other material on the topic. But this time it jarred something loose in me, and I'm starting to think about what that other material might look like -- about what is needed. 🤔

First of all, I think we need peers talking to peers about their experiences -- particularly hearing from those already practicing the pendulum career archetype.

(They exist! They are pretty much categorically the most awe-inspiring technical leaders I have ever known. 💜💙💚)

They are also largely curmudgeonly misfits, since this is a pattern that has flown in the face of all Serious Career Advice for a generation, lol.

We also need to be transcribing and sharing these conversations in some form, to see what patterns and best practices emerge.

So I have a few ideas. We could:

* have a birds-of-a-feather type meetup at Velocity SJ, over dinner or drinks or something

* kick off a limited run discussion group in the sf area, along the model of the peer tech leadership groups I wrote up (charity.wtf/2018/08/24/how…

* do a hosted/moderated series that's purely virtual; podcast, or interviews and q&a, or similar

* designate a slack room in an existing slack, or yet another slack for this purpose, either public or invite-only.

What I would hope to see come out of any of these:

- testimonials from engineers who have lived this transition, good/bad/ugly/wish- they'd-known
- testimonials from managers about how they got institutional support for it
- how to deal with really hard problems that arise from a more- fluid line between eng and mgr roles

And just an ongoing community of radicals who want to subvert the hierarchy in lasting healthy ways. ☺️

So here's my question. Assuming I have the time and energy to pull off ONE of those, which would you all get the most value from?

I'm using this to gauge interest more generally too. Chime in if there's a good option I'm not considering, or if you'd be interested in shouldering some of the organizational load, contributing your relevant experience, etc.

Thanks folks 🥰🌷

Oh! And please do link to any material on the topic you may be aware of, if it exists. Or if you happen to write any -- please let me know so I can RT it. 🌈🙏