Thread by @mipsytipsy

Hey kittens, thanks to @__Neha we have a last minute venue for a NYC skill share! Friday at 6 pm; guess we'll see how many people feel like showing up to talk about work right before a three day weekend. 😉. eventbrite.com/e/engineermana…

To refresh your memory, we ran one of these at Velocity this summer. Think mini unconference or devops days, with lightly facilitated discussion groups on topics related to your career as a senior technologist.

Some of the questions that came up last time were:

- I've been a manager for 10 years -- can I go back? how?
- our principal engineers are all toxic and block progress
- I want to be a manager but keep being passed over -- how can I get a shot?
- am I ready to lead a team?

- I was a manager once and hated it -- should I try again?
- how can I convince my org that management is not a promotion but a change of career, or find a company who believes that?
- how do I transform an engineering culture to emphasize ownership?
- what motivates people?

Bring your question -- bring your team! You can always sit in different groups. We will collect and group them and assign questions to tables. Then you decide which table to join.

At the end, each table presents their takeaways or most interesting points.

Then (if there's time) we shuffle and do a second round. And then you're off to start your weekend, before the sun sets!

Why? As a senior person in tech, you're past the easy answers. As Tolstoy said, every manager and senior engineer are unhappy in their own unique way.

The kinds of answers you need are not the kind you can find by reading an article, watching a talk, or even asking a mentor.

You find them by thinking critically, digging deep within yourself, interrogating and reformulating the questions, caring a little too much...

... and sharing stories with other people in a similar boat.

I have never really been a fan of mentorship, or any hierarchy really. Why prescribe in advance which direction the help must flow? Just meet good people, make good friends, and learn from each other's stories.