This is a very good point. It is every bit as possible, and equally as common, for eng managers to err on the side of under-evaluating as over-evaluating.
If you under-eval, your team misses out on growth opportunities, and your comp and levels won't be fair or meaningful.
If you under-eval, your team misses out on growth opportunities, and your comp and levels won't be fair or meaningful.
How can you distinguish between the helpful, growth-unlocking ways of evaluating engineers from the harmful, metrics-gaming ways that I ranted about here? charity.wtf/2020/07/07/que…
Well.. think about the differences between factories and artisans.
Well.. think about the differences between factories and artisans.
Imagine we're talking about building shoes, not software. You have a shoe factory. How can you tell if it's performing well?
You gather stats on # of pairs manufactured per day, how long it takes to make each pair, uniformity of the components, quality of the finished product.
You gather stats on # of pairs manufactured per day, how long it takes to make each pair, uniformity of the components, quality of the finished product.
Now consider the artisan, the cobbler who handcrafts individual pairs of shoes to order. How can you evaluate how skilled they are at their craft?
* Did they design the shoes, or are they replicating a design?
* How artistically appealing are they? How faithful is the result?
* Did they design the shoes, or are they replicating a design?
* How artistically appealing are they? How faithful is the result?
* Did they have to tan, dye, and process the materials themselves? How skillfully did they do so?
* Did they have to work around any missing or suboptimal components?
* Is the design optimized for aesthetics, comfort, or endurance?
* Are they working on a compressed deadline?
* Did they have to work around any missing or suboptimal components?
* Is the design optimized for aesthetics, comfort, or endurance?
* Are they working on a compressed deadline?
* How well do the shoes fit the intended recipient?
* Does that person have any medical or orthotic needs? Does the cobbler understand and have the necessary materials to address those needs?
* Is there an apprentice? Does the cobbler effectively use their help? Are they happy?
* Does that person have any medical or orthotic needs? Does the cobbler understand and have the necessary materials to address those needs?
* Is there an apprentice? Does the cobbler effectively use their help? Are they happy?
* Is this particular pair of shoes well within the cobbler's normal range, or is it an experiment?
* Does the cobbler's aesthetic judgment resemble your own?
* How long are the shoes expected to last, and under what conditions?
... and so forth.
* Does the cobbler's aesthetic judgment resemble your own?
* How long are the shoes expected to last, and under what conditions?
... and so forth.
Context matters. Context is everything when it comes to evaluating engineering labor.
Shoes are simple enough that we can stamp them out with factories and they are mostly good enough, but software is not. Software and systems engineers are firmly in the realm of artisan labor.
Shoes are simple enough that we can stamp them out with factories and they are mostly good enough, but software is not. Software and systems engineers are firmly in the realm of artisan labor.
You cannot evaluate an engineer's output without taking into account,
* degree of difficulty
* prescribed timeframe
* the support from other teams, or lack thereof
* her familiarity with the building blocks
* any changing conditions
* dependencies & design constraints
* degree of difficulty
* prescribed timeframe
* the support from other teams, or lack thereof
* her familiarity with the building blocks
* any changing conditions
* dependencies & design constraints
This is why it's important for engineering managers to be fluent, or at least literate in the domain in which the work is being done, so they can independently evaluate these things.
This is also why managers have a responsibility to educate themselves about their biases.
This is also why managers have a responsibility to educate themselves about their biases.
