This is in response to my statement that senior engineer's job is to point out and amplify hidden costs. Not one time, but patiently, consistently, repeatedly.
And yes. It is hard to feel ignored or unheard. Which is why you should, if you are a senior engineer, think of influence as a long term project, built up and cultivated over the course of years.
(Just like good technical judgment, to which it is at least nominally related.)
(Just like good technical judgment, to which it is at least nominally related.)
So *how* do you increase your influence, and get folks to pay attention?
A few tips:
💆♀️ Give good advice, first and foremost. Cultivate your own technical judgment. Stay curious. Read, wonder, debate, and aggressively interrogate your own biases.
A few tips:
💆♀️ Give good advice, first and foremost. Cultivate your own technical judgment. Stay curious. Read, wonder, debate, and aggressively interrogate your own biases.
🤦♀️ If something is important, you'll need to learn to repeat yourself without being an ass about it. Learn the art of saying something over and over, in many different ways, patiently and cheerfully.
(When something gets through to someone, note what worked for them.)
(When something gets through to someone, note what worked for them.)
This is critical because managers and decision-makers are constantly making decisions they do not and can not fully understand, based on heuristics. Hearing something again and again is a strong signal which tells them, "this thing is important".
💁♀️ Don't hog the credit. Offload credit generously to others. Naming other people makes them pay WAY more attention (muahaha) and feel shared ownership over whatever you are saying.
🙋♀️ Point out when you were right. This is the trickiest part, but arguably the most important part of closing the loop and getting people to pay more attention to you in the future than they have in the past. For example:
"I was really afraid this was going to happen. Remember back in January, when I was fretting over disk space? Is there another way I could express my concern more effectively the next time so it gets on the roadmap in time? I feel like this might have been an unforced error."
🙇♀️ Save your ammo for when it really matters and you're really confident in your opinion. If asked about something you're less sure about, or something outside your lane, attach a confidence level to it ("I'm only 70% sure about this"). Be conservative, esp when doomsaying.
🤷♀️ Don't take it personally, and remember you are playing the long game. Be right more than you're wrong, be swift and cheerful in acknowledging your errors when you make them, be generous with others when they err. Praise publicly and correct privately. Don't shame anyone.
🤷♀️ If people enjoy coming to you for advice, they will come to you far more than if you make it uncomfortable and unpleasant for them. This matters far more than your accuracy. So be warm and encouraging.
lol I forgot, I wrote a related blog post a while ago. 🙃 charity.wtf/2018/08/17/on-…
