Thread by @mipsytipsy

Last week I did a webcast discussion with @rich_archbold and @inowland on the shift from managing engineers to managing eng managers.

(It was a fun discussion; I think you can access it if you register here, webinar.gitprime.com/manager-of-eng…)

Rich and I have probably had two good conversations a year since @intercom_eng became a customer of ours, 2-ish years ago?

I honestly didn't realize how much of "my" eng management philosophy and practice derived from shit I hoovered up from Rich, til midway thru that chat. ☺️

Like, one of the first times we hung out we chatted about why it's so different managing eng managers than engineers. He pointed out that most line managers are effective intuitively, by leaning on our personal strengths or charisma to motivate people to join us.

But every eng manager has different strengths and intuitions, so what works for you almost definitely won't work for someone else.

Managing eng managers means you have to help them find and leverage *their* intuitive strengths. Your solutions literally won't work for them.

So it's almost like, as an eng director or senior manager, you have to go back and learn the job again, but from first principles.

If you're going to have any chance of helping your managers debug the flaws in their own unique processes and ways of being effective, that is.

This fucking blew my mind and has stuck with me ever since. I completely forgot I even got it from Rich until I had this uncanny feeling that I was explaining his own advice back to him in the middle of this panel, and he confirmed it. 🥰

Anyway. I tell this story because @torok_tomi just sent me this link. And if you aren't lucky enough to have a personal Rich delivering you mindsplosions, you should make time to soak it allll up.

codingsans.com/blog/scaling-d…