How do I describe this in engineer terms... You need a cohesive interface to your boss. He doesn't need the implementation details of your problem. You should

How do I describe this in engineer terms... You need a cohesive interface to your boss. He doesn't need the implementation details of your problem. You should return a clean, terse data model from your TechLeader.ReportStatus() function. You are a complexity manager in leadership just like you are as a developer. He's your customer like your sister team consuming your API is your customer. He needs decisions you make, summaries of your problems if you cannot solve them, and multiple solution summaries if you need help picking one. On the flip side, managers need to understand why, and you need to be capable of explaining why if the problem is not intuitive to them. But you'd be surprised how many problems are intuitive to them when the fundamental moving parts are summarized well. If the boss needs more detail, he will ask. EDIT: one last thing: focus on actions, not reasons. We did X, then Y, and Y didn't work, so we did Z. Now our timeline is at risk. We need to push back two sprints. He doesnt need to know reasons Y1,Y2,and Y3 why Y didnt work. If he wants them, he'll ask. Actions, not reasons.