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Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become engineering managers

695 points by jstanier 7y ago

Hey folks. Last year I was fortunate enough to sign a deal to write a book with my favorite technical publisher, The Pragmatic Bookshelf. When I started out as an Engineering Manager many years ago, I found that there wasn't a huge amount of material that specifically and practically helped me understand how to do my job. When you learn to program there's all of these amazing tutorials, examples and guides, but what was there for new managers? In response to this, a couple of years ago I started a blog over at https://www.theengineeringmanager.com https://www.theengineeringmanager.com which got a decent amount of traction - I had a few front-pages here too, which was awesome. I improved a lot as a writer. This gave me the confidence to pitch a book to numerous publishers and thankfully my ideal choice wanted to work with me. The book has now been released in beta, which means you get DRM-free access to the first 240 pages (13 chapters) and more chapters will be pushed out as they get finished. I've written 17 out of 19 of them so far. The hard copy should be out in the Spring. It's available with free excerpts here: https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-software-engineering-manager https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-softw... If anyone's at all interested in learning about what it's like to pitch a publisher with their own book idea, then I guess I've been successful at that now, so I'm more than happy to give you any advice. I've had a great time working with PragProg and my editor and the other staff there have been (honestly) fantastic. I'd love to hear your feedback, and the nice part about the beta process is that the book still isn't finished, so there's plenty of scope for improvements. Thanks all!

joselfr 7y ago
Great! This is exactly what I was looking for. Will we get the updates if we buy the beta version?
- chriswitts 7y ago
  Yes, the betas get updated along the way, and you'll end up with the final print version when it's done.
theqult 7y ago
<3 <3 <3
zooweemama 7y ago
Looks very interesting! Can you also write one about how to go back to engineer from engineering manager? :)
- jstanier 7y ago
  You just read it backwards, right? :-) That's a good point though, and I do mention it in the book. I talk about how when promoting people it's good to define a 30-60-90 day plan (although there are many similar frameworks) and bake in a "no bad feelings" back-out clause if they don't enjoy doing that particular job. We've had that happen at our company numerous times. Additionally, in the later chapter on defining management and individual contributor tracks, it does talk about levelling them in a such a way that allows mobility back and forth. People shouldn't get stuck going through the one-way management door. It's perfectly fine to go back (even though it's not really "back", it's just "across").
  - zooweemama 7y ago
    Thanks, I'll make sure to check the book.
- chrisbro 7y ago
  I just recently did this in my company and have been mulling over giving a talk about it.
  - jstanier 7y ago
    You should! I think there's a lot of stigma around it. It's definitely not a step "down".
  - zooweemama 7y ago
    If you ever do give the talk, I'd love to see/hear it!
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
artsyca 7y ago
Make sure to buy two copies so you can read it twice as fast
- ScottFree 7y ago
  I'm buying 6! I'll be CTO by the end of the month!
  - jstanier 7y ago
    Oh no, these people know the secret!
s_Hogg 7y ago
Well done, this is an area that could use more declarative information and less guesswork. I think there's another question that also needs answering: how do I make myself _want_ to be a manager? A lot of times, the incentives tell the engineer not to bother because the money is already good and you have a decent impact anyway. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.
- jstanier 7y ago
  That's a very good question. In the introduction I've said that I've written the book as a way of letting people understand what the role is really like so they can make that decision. However, I think that I could use a sidebar to the reader to allow them to further question their own motives, and help them make that decision more clearly.
zerr 7y ago
Question to CTOs - are you happy? When I see what particular CTO does day to day, assuming he/she was an engineer before - it seems quite boring. It seems they've sacrificed their engineering side in exchange for a bigger salary.
- beders 7y ago
  As CTO I'm trying to incorporate both sides: some hacking under the umbrella of a "Research Lab" and oversight/representation. I definitely feel the lack of management training. Being a nerd for decades doesn't mean you know how to lead a bunch of nerds ;)
- blowski 7y ago
  The grind of constantly learning the latest technologies eventually got boring, and now I really enjoy managing developers. For me personally, helping an unhappy or under-performing developer get out of their slump is a really rewarding experience. I don't enjoy long-winded, pointless meetings - but if you're organisation has so many of them, you'll get pulled into them anyway once you're senior enough.
  - jstanier 7y ago
    I'm generally aligned with this comment. I really enjoy helping others succeed. I also have a lot of input into the product strategy, and that is very rewarding for me also.
  - swyx 7y ago
    i think i am an under-performing developer. if you dont mind sharing some secret sauce... what are the first questions you think about asking to diagnose whats going on?
    - blowski 7y ago
      What makes you think you're under-performing? I think the "secret" is simply to make sure people know what they're suppoesd to be doing, that they want to do it, and that they feel they have everything they need to do it. That won't necessarily always work, because not all under-performance is work-related - if you've just had a baby, going through divorce or bereavement, I'd expect you to be 'under-performing' and wouldn't try to fix it. If you do want a chat, I'm available on email (it's on my profile page).
BossingAround 7y ago
Do you also deal with the 'why' of moving to the management track? I've seen quite a few people becoming depressed and moving back from the mgmt track to their old position.
- jstanier 7y ago
  I said something similar in another comment, but one of the things I say in the introduction is that I've written the book to help people understand what the management track is really about. So if someone reads the book and decides that it isn't for them, I think that I can hopefully say I've helped them also.
- Ididntdothis 7y ago
  In a lot of companies the “why” is simply about money. There may be a technical career track but it’s really hard to move forward on it compared to the management track. So for most it’s just money. And the jump in salary is often enough to compensate for any dissatisfaction the move causes.
kitsune_ 7y ago
Congrats on the book. Have you ever explored alternative forms of management and organizational forms? Stuff like Sociocracy, Teal (from Reinventing Organizations) or management as envisioned by Deming. I wonder whether the engineering manager role as usually interpreted isn't really an anti-pattern, I mean we're basically applying Taylorism to knowledge work.
- jstanier 7y ago
  Thank you! I haven't gone into detail about these in the book. This is very much the standard Engineering Manager route that people would find in most places in industry right now. However - if you don't mind - I would love to use those as examples in the final chapters where I mention the opportunities offered by moving into start-ups, and also where our managers will be given more autonomy to set the culture of a wider organization (of which that culture could involve much looser management structures). Great pointers, thank you.
  - kitsune_ 7y ago
    Cool! I actually work at a company that adopted Holacracy roughly 3 years ago. In many ways it's probably much less loose and more formal than most people think (I mean there is a written constitution written in Legalese). There are still roles that resemble the classical management role, i.e. there is a role that is responsible for setting strategies and assigning people into roles and monitoring role fit within their 'circle' (think team or business unit), called the circle's lead link. Yet there is a process for any role holder to propose putting those accountabilities into a new role or into a process. Role holders can also propose the creation of new roles or policies if they feel a tension. Then there is a structured process to deal with these proposals, and people need to demonstrate that the proposal would cause harm and reduce the capacity for the circle to achieve its purpose in order to have a valid objection. People in roles ultimately have ultimate autonomy on how they want to achieve their role's purpose. The lead link role can give relative prioritization if there are conflicts, but the lead link can't say 'you have to work on this right now and this is how you gonna do it'. What ultimately happens is that the traditional accountabilities of a manger end up being distributed across multiple roles, so people might have software developer role, but might also be responsible for defining the hiring standards, or do people development etc. It's kinda similar to the book "Turn the Ship around" where you don't have to ask for permission to do something and there is a process to address any tensions that arise from this power to act autonomously.
blowski 7y ago
I don't know whether it's in the book - perhaps it's in the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" chapter - but one thing I struggle with is communicating outwards and upwards. I tend to assume that everybody else in the company knows that my team works in the way it does because that's how you deliver software successfully. Often, this comes back to bite when I learn that other managers think the team should be managed differently, and because I haven't made enough efforts to sell our methodology, those managers can have more influence than I'd like. So, as an Engineering Manager, it's not enough that everybody in your team is happy and produce. You also have to be an advocate for your team to the rest of the company.
- jstanier 7y ago
  I totally agree on your final sentence there. There's a number of things in that chapter you mention, and there's also material on managing upwards earlier on in the book. As an example of something I personally struggle with: what's the best way to have the rest of the company know what all of our teams are working on without A) going into too much detail B) being obtuse C) opening ourselves up for miscommunication to customers or deadline promises D) giving ourselves room to fail, because not everything will work out. The current iteration is a fortnightly newsletter that I curate between product and the engineering managers in the department and it gets sent around, but making everyone happy with it is /so/ hard.
  - blowski 7y ago
    You really hit the nail on the head there. It's so hard to give the right people the right information at the right time. I like the idea of the newsletter. Do you focus mostly on achievements, or discuss 'ways of working' as well? I'm really looking forward to the book, by the way.
    - jstanier 7y ago
      Thank you! The target audience for the newsletter was decided as "the busy exec". Not too much text, lots of gifs of functionality that we've built, etc. There's some separate newsletters we do as well - there's a fortnightly "what's going on in the backend" one, curated by our infrastructure teams that's aimed at engineers. Currently the general case newsletter goes to Engineering, Product, Product Design, and the exec group. We don't think it's quite good enough for the staff@ mailing list yet, but maybe we're just being over-cautious. It's really hard to get the balance right.
JNRowe 7y ago
Clickable links for my fellow loafers: https://www.theengineeringmanager.com https://www.theengineeringmanager.com https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-software-engineering-manager https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-softw...
Etheryte 7y ago
As someone who's constantly at somewhat of a crossroads on the subject, this book's intro leads me to believe it's exactly up my tree. However, I would prefer to read a physical book — is it possible to subscribe for updates so I know when it comes out?
- jstanier 7y ago
  I don't know if there's a way to subscribe for updates with the publisher, but if you use Twitter I'm on there as @jstanier and I give updates on how it's going. If you're not on Twitter then I can drop you an email.
  - sciurus 7y ago
    I'd recommend setting up a mailing list and promoting it on your site. See the "stay in touch" section at https://dataintensive.net/ https://dataintensive.net/ or the "sign up for newsletter" section on https://the-cloud-book.com/ https://the-cloud-book.com/ for examples.
    - jstanier 7y ago
      Yeah, that's a good idea. My blog has a mailing list but I did a wonderful job of making it extremely hard to find.
proc0 7y ago
I'd love a blog about how to AVOID becoming a manager as an engineer or technical person. It really seems "contributors" are at the bottom of the pyramid, especially in companies whose core business is not technical in nature.
- nvarsj 7y ago
  It's not particularly hard. Just never accept a leadership position :). As long as you keep your technical skills sharp, you should never be short of a job. However your income will likely plateau very early in your career. You can try to become famous as a way to counteract that, but it is substantially harder than just going into leadership.
  - proc0 7y ago
    > However your income will likely plateau very early in your career. yes this is sad part. hoping AI will take over leadership and only AI engineers will be needed. /jk
brianmcc 7y ago
If anyone is considering moving into engineering management, you'd do well to look not just at the how but the why. If it's for status/salary rather than the change in nature of the work be very careful about making the move. You need to really want to manage and develop people (with all the idiosyncracies that real human beings come with!), and to communicate, co-ordinate, and delegate for a living. Some will love this, others hate it. But don't view it as a natural progression that will work for everyone.
- cloverich 7y ago
  Communicate, co-ordinate, and delegate feels like a great sound bite for what entry level management is.
- supernova87a 7y ago
  Yes, junior people frequently make the incorrect assumption that entering management is a promotion (partly because we have made the mistake of unthinkingly treating/rewarding it as such). They are often incentivized to seek management roles as part of a "this must be my career path" because of the associated salary. It is a different role, and not merely a coder who tells people what to do. It has a different skill set, and some people will fail at / only muddle through it just like learning a new language or tool. If you don't like dealing with people's problems, enjoy solving the problem at a detailed level and being quiet and working things out on your own, then management may not be for you. There are companies that reward talented individual contributors as much as good managers, but they are rare. Also I would say that an individual contributor needs to be quite good to match a mediocre manager's salary, unfortunately -- but that's how the hierarchy is generally set up.
  - volkk 7y ago
    Realistically speaking though, manager is an upwards trajectory in the CS world. Most companies don't define the IC track well, and a staff engineer is usually a 10 year veteran whereas a manager path, even if you hate it with a passion is a quick way to get a really high salary with low years of experience. Even more salary once you become director and that's not out of the realm of normal with 5-7 years of exp. I know 1 staff engineer, and 0 principal engineers, whereas I know tons of directors/VPs. Clearly, the way to more money in the long run is the manager path even if you find it horrible.
xwowsersx 7y ago
I've been looking for something like this. Hope it's good. One thing: the description starts with "Software startups make global headlines every day". That line seems completely disconnected from the rest of the description and it seems nothing would be lacking if you started with the next sentence instead.
- jstanier 7y ago
  Sure, that's good feedback and makes a lot of sense. I can edit that blurb.
mnsc 7y ago
This looks interesting. I assume that this is very us-centric though? Have you gotten any international reactions/feedback during writing? I guess it's har to say but how applicable would this be in other parts of the engineering world? I've only worked in tech in Sweden and I sometimes feel like that "it's pretty much the same" but other times: "us tech scene is aliens on another planet".
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- jstanier 7y ago
  That's a good question. I'm English and I work for a UK company. I had some reviewers at the 50% stage who were from European companies and they didn't say anything specific about this, but I'd be interested to learn more about the US tech scene being quite alien - I haven't experienced it myself.
  - mnsc 7y ago
    Well, I guess I assumed wrong then! =) And for me as a Swede the most alien thing for me is the "lone genius startup"-thing (that probably is very over represented/emphasized here at HN) where developers work for stocks(?) and hope(?) that the company will blow up and seem to take great personal risks. Of course that exists here as well in small startups but we have so strong work force-regulations that I don't think it can get that extreme. And now that I think of it it might be that we are the odd ones so maybe it's not so much u.s. vs. e.u. as u.s. vs sweden. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    - jstanier 7y ago
      I understand. Yeah, we're a VC-backed company but it didn't feel like the journey was a movie script at any point.
rafaelbarbosa 7y ago
Congratulations on getting published! I've bought the book and read until the Delegation chapter. Up until now I find that the topics are interesting and the writing is very direct and unpretentious which I appreciate. I also like the approach you took of wrapping it in a story, I think it makes the topic a lot less dry. At the same time I feel that it doesn't go into the detail I would like. For instance I feel that the “How to Measure Your Output as a Manager” is a bit hand waved by using Andy Grove's equation. This is a topic I struggle with because I sometimes feel that I don't produce anything as a manager and that is frustrating. Nonetheless, the chapters I've read are fine as a starting point and appreciate that you suggest additional literature to deepen the topics. Overall I'm positive about the book, would buy again :)
- jstanier 7y ago
  That's kind of you to say that! Thank you. Can I email you to get some more of your feedback? What's the best way to contact you?
  - rafaelbarbosa 7y ago
    Hi, sure, check my profile for my email.
- bloopernova 7y ago
  Thank you for reviewing the book, your comment was very helpful to me :)
vinnie1991 7y ago
Are there alternative methods on buying your book? I don't have PayPal and I don't have a credit card.
- jstanier 7y ago
  Good question! I don't know. I can ask my editor. When the print copy is out it will be available from bookshops and Amazon and so on, so maybe that's the short-term answer.
codeisawesome 7y ago
I can’t wait for it to come out of beta and be available in my O’Reilly subscription :)
- jstanier 7y ago
  I didn't even know that was a thing. :-) Ace!
deleted 7y ago
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yaseer 7y ago
A great achievement, congrats! Although, it may never top your blog circa 2001, it's a fine achievement nonetheless.
- jstanier 7y ago
  We don't talk about that blog.
me551ah 7y ago
IMO being a good engineering manager is quite subjective and varies across companies and even teams. The traits of a good engineer would roughly be the same across companies and would be ranked according to knowledge, work experience and quality of code etc. And since a software engineer reports to an engineering manager, expectations are also based on the views of one person. Upper management in different companies would have different expectations from what an engineering manager should be. Some would want them to code, some wouldn't. Some would want them to utilize developers as much as possible while some would want them to keep work life balance of developers in mind. Same with teams. A much younger team would have vastly different views on what a good manager is compared to a team which is filled up of more senior people. A younger team might want the EM to be more hands-on while a senior team would want more autonomy. Then you also have HR and feedback from various teams to deal with. Company culture and popular managers would also drive some of the traits of an engineering manager. Having been an EM for multiple teams I've had to change my management style multiple times to better suit change in higher management and different teams. But I've always been appaled by how less content exists for learning about engineering management. Nice to see someone focus on this area!
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  I agree this is true of engineering managers but its also true of engineers. Some organizations want them to engage with end users and do a lot of business analysis others want them to focus on coding. Some organizations want engineers to follow protocol and coding guidelines to the tee. Other want you to make the right call for the circumstances. Some organizations don't care how long something takes but want it to work perfectly. Others want to make sure you deliver a product on time even if it's buggy. Some organizations expect you to always choose the right language/tool for the job, some want you to choose the organizational language/tool everyone is familiar with. I'm a consultant and sometimes run into this issue. Building out an MVP for a start up is a completely different mindset than working on a fortune 500 Enterprise app.
  - LordFast 7y ago
    Same for product managers as well, ranging from technical customer support agents at enterprise fortune 500s to app developers at small startups.
fujohnwang 7y ago
I had written such a book too, but in Chinese, you can find it here if you are interested: https://afoo.me/books.html https://afoo.me/books.html
jonaldomo 7y ago
Hey I made an app to help me be a better engineering manager, I’d love your opinion on it if you had some time. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/team-lead/id1466421445?mt=8 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/team-lead/id1466421445?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.jmoses.manus.play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.jmoses.manu...
circlefavshape 7y ago
> If anyone's at all interested ... pitch(ing) a publisher with their own book idea, then ... I'm more than happy to give you any advice Really? How do I contact you?
- jstanier 7y ago
  @jstanier on Twitter if that works for you.
redleader9345 7y ago
Warning ... cynical, pessimistic viewpoint coming. Here is a pattern that I've observed over a few jobs that I've held as a developer at different companies. Wondering if anyone has any similar experience. The first line manager (only manages individual contributors) exhibits these characteristics. 1.)He used to be a coder, but that was a long time ago. SQL hasn't changed, so that's the bit he's drawn to when he feels like he needs to roll up his sleeves and contribute. 2.)He has some form of attention deficit, demonstrated by the fact that he can't hold down a conversation really well. Especially if it gets technical. 3.)He really overplays the busy body persona. Always checking phone, always late for a meeting. 4.)He's really insecure in his position within the company, always fearful that he's going to be cut loose. This is extremely amplified when he gets a new manager himself. 5.)He has very little influence over direction. He's really just a proxy mouthpiece for higher level management. And he loves to have status update meetings where he informs the team of all the important updates he received in the big important meeting he attended with other big important people. 6.)Instead of being someone who is respected by the team, he becomes more of someone you have sympathy for. 7.)You wonder why he never asks the real questions, like "are you happy with your role?". And you realize it's because he doesn't really want to hear the answer. He couldn't really do anything about it anyway. See point #5. 8.) He's way too preoccupied worrying about his own safety to nurture the team. 9.) As a developer, you have the safety net of knowing that in the worst case scenario (terminated) you could find another job fairly quickly with pay parody. As a manager, you don't have that comfort blanket. So you cling on to your current job no matter how badly you are abused. And people lose more respect for you because you look pathetic without a backbone. 10.) As a cynical developer in his 40's, you realize that you don't observe many 50+ developers in the wild, and you bemoan the idea that you're going to have to suck it up and play manager eventually. Anxiety and existential crisis is built into the tech career trajectory, and I feel like the only winning strategy is to be ok with moving backward income wise at various points in your timeline.
- sanderjd 7y ago
  Without commenting on the specifics on your comment: what does this have to do with the OP's book? If anything, writing a book with ideas, experiences, and techniques aimed at helping people be better at this job is responsive to all the problems you identify.
JimboOmega 7y ago
Does the book cover how to get the position in the first place? I've read countless books (Like "The Managers Path" and "Managing Humans"), blog articles, etc, and tried many strategies, but it never seems to happen. Usually for the catch-22 reason of not having managing experience. I've even had past managers they had no worries about me having the skills or knowledge to do it... but it still doesn't happen.
- jstanier 7y ago
  The book assumes someone is interested in it or just started. I didn't cover landing the job, but that's a really interesting point. Personally, I got promoted from within at the beginning of my management journey. Have you been applying to external companies? I wonder if others on here have more experiences in that area that they'd like to share.
  - JimboOmega 7y ago
    "Applying to external companies" as currently an IC looking for an EM role? I have tried this on a limited level in the past, and either get no response or get told that I don't have experience (I have a few months with one direct report)
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  The first thing is to step up and become the lead developer on your team. If you’re not being proactive folks won’t imagine it on their own. Clothes are another angle. If you look and act like a leader, soon you shall be one.
  - JimboOmega 7y ago
    Well I am a woman, so there is that image problem automatically. You're right about the other bit, though. Even as the most knowledgeable and senior person on the team, I do have something of a habit of letting people who are loud derail me from my ideas (or simply talk over me), which can damage perceptions. It's a thing I try to fight every day, though.
vi-mode 7y ago
OT: for those who have never been in leader/managerial positions: - Leading people is 1000x less fun than coding - Leading people makes your more money than as an avg coder - Leading people too long makes you lose your technical skills slowly - At some age and for most, there's no other option than leading, 'go or grow' - Leading bigger headcounts is comparable to competitive sports 24/7 and shouldn't be underestimated
- ryanelfman 7y ago
  Great summary
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- burlesona 7y ago
  1000x less fun? That’s extremely subjective, and depends enormously on what you draw satisfaction from. Leading people can be a lot of fun if you genuinely care about the people you are leading and take joy from empowering and enabling them to grow and succeed.
  - vi-mode 7y ago
    Yes and no. You can move mountains with good teams, this is great and you will draw satisfaction from. But IDK if you had ever 100+ people in your reporting line for a longer time. Then you knew that it's everything BUT definitely not a lot of fun. It's super hard work and will push you and your mind dangerously to the limit.
    - thewanisdown 7y ago
      It's a different mindset, but I still think it's fun. For me, the key with that size of a group was focusing on the development of the leaders under me. When I make sure they are set up for success, things go smoothly. The hardest time in my life was trying to micromanage a large group. Once you let go, and focus on the bigger picture, it's quite fun. Challenging, for sure, but very fun.
t_rope 7y ago
Congratulations on getting as far as you have. I look forward to reading this, I've been making this transition so I'm sure plenty will relate to me. A couple of points : Is there anywhere I can pay for this in pounds? Your choice of excerpts is very teasing, but I haven't had a chance to read any of the in depth content. Would you consider one of the sub-sections? That said, I suppose they did work for me... So maybe you know what you're doing!
- jstanier 7y ago
  Hey! I think you'll have to wait until the thing is done and then you can buy it from Amazon and other bookstores. Couple of months, I guess. The publisher is in charge of choosing the excerpts, but I'll feed that back to them.
matttah 7y ago
Jstanier - Great job, this looks really cool. Curious what icon set are you using? I saw you have similar style icons across a few of your projects, is there a standard library you are using or are you creating them yourself?
- jstanier 7y ago
  Hey - icon set? What do you mean by icon set? :-)
  - matttah 7y ago
    Just the images on the front page, guess a bit bigger than icons!
    - jstanier 7y ago
      I /think/ I know what you're talking about, but just in case this gets derailed in a back-and-forth and lost, then feel free to contact me on Twitter @jstanier or my email is in my profile - we can chat more easily there.
rainyMammoth 7y ago
In most big companies in Silicon valley, being a manager is not a promotion but rather a parallel track. What I find strange is that most of big cos expect managers to not be technical anymore. There is that weird expectation that the manager should have been technical in the past but is now only used as an enabler for the team.
- crimsonalucard 7y ago
  Even in silicon valley this is largely the minority. Yes it does occur more frequently here but not to any scale worth noting. It is part of human nature for leads to gain more than the fair share even when the leads are doing disproportionally less work and less skilled work. This has happened across the board for almost every culture past tribal cultures.
cr0sh 7y ago
> If anyone's at all interested in learning about what it's like to pitch a publisher with their own book idea, then I guess I've been successful at that now, so I'm more than happy to give you any advice. Maybe this needs to be a new book? Seriously, all of this sounds wonderful - and thank you (but I would love to hear some tips on getting a book published from zero - I certainly write enough that I could probably fill a book, whether anyone would read it though...???).
- ninjakeyboard 7y ago
  I'd love to hear more about this as well.
bloopernova 7y ago
Very relevant to this new team lead (since Autumn last year). I bought a copy, I can't wait to read it :)
- jstanier 7y ago
  Thank you! I hope it helps. Let me know if there's anything you'd like covered.
ascotan 7y ago
Embrace the dark side Luke.
SteveMorin 7y ago
Have some questions for you. What's the best way to get in touch?
- jstanier 7y ago
  @jstanier on Twitter, or my email is in my profile.
atmosx 7y ago
I will keep in on your book. I've read the "Effective Manager" and the "Manager's Path" so far. The first one has some good hints here and there but it's overly verbose and at times feels like a marketing campaign. The second one, I loved and resonates with my experience so far. Congrats for getting published!
- jstanier 7y ago
  Thank you! I hope you like it.
takiavosky 7y ago
Man you have a PhD. Is this book worth reading for someone who just have basic education?
- derekja 7y ago
  I have a PhD. The piece of paper hangs in my bathroom so I can look at it while I shit. It was a personally fulfilling experience that taught me a lot about academic research and and is almost completely divorced from the practice of software engineering management. (and most other things.. I'd suggest never being intimidated by a PhD.) The book is written on a very approachable level, I'm enjoying it so far.
  - jstanier 7y ago
    Thank you, I'm pleased you think that. My PhD was in compilers anyway. I have no formal management training. :-)
DenisM 7y ago
What is the format of the book? PDF? Epub? Mobi? Html? Is it / will it be readable on a Kindle?
- code_chimp 7y ago
  Pragmatic Programmers beta and published books are available as all three - PDF, epub, and mobi (which reads fine on my Kindle).
ozmaverick72 7y ago
A competent manager is a very rare breed indeed. Competent team leads - I've had a few of those. But at any level higher than that all competence seems to fall away. Success would seem to be despite management rather than because of it.
codegeek 7y ago
This looks great and I would love to get one. I am interested in the Hard Copy only (I can't do ebooks). Is there a mailing list for the hard copy ?
- jstanier 7y ago
  Sure! Sign up here: https://t.co/burXhyiuoK?amp=1 https://t.co/burXhyiuoK?amp=1
kdeldycke 7y ago
I transitioned from software engineer to engineering management 2 years ago. It was by far the most challenging (still rewarding) moment of my career. I was lucky to have the opportunity to build up a team from scratch to take over the services and architecture I designed, developed and operated. Biggest lesson learned: you're no longer the decision-maker on your technical stack. Your team is responsible. Still, you’re liable for the result and its impact on business. That duality is hard to reconcile for former engineer. The solution? Build a culture. Better: create the conditions for a sustainable culture to emerge and persist. That insight, and many other advices for new managers are compiled at: https://github.com/kdeldycke/awesome-management https://github.com/kdeldycke/awesome-management

695 points by jstanier 7y ago

joselfr 7y ago

Great! This is exactly what I was looking for. Will we get the updates if we buy the beta version?

chriswitts 7y ago
Yes, the betas get updated along the way, and you'll end up with the final print version when it's done.

theqult 7y ago

<3 <3 <3

zooweemama 7y ago

Looks very interesting! Can you also write one about how to go back to engineer from engineering manager? :)

jstanier 7y ago
You just read it backwards, right? :-) That's a good point though, and I do mention it in the book. I talk about how when promoting people it's good to define a 30-60-90 day plan (although there are many similar frameworks) and bake in a "no bad feelings" back-out clause if they don't enjoy doing that particular job. We've had that happen at our company numerous times. Additionally, in the later chapter on defining management and individual contributor tracks, it does talk about levelling them in a such a way that allows mobility back and forth. People shouldn't get stuck going through the one-way management door. It's perfectly fine to go back (even though it's not really "back", it's just "across").
- zooweemama 7y ago
  Thanks, I'll make sure to check the book.
chrisbro 7y ago
I just recently did this in my company and have been mulling over giving a talk about it.
- jstanier 7y ago
  You should! I think there's a lot of stigma around it. It's definitely not a step "down".
- zooweemama 7y ago
  If you ever do give the talk, I'd love to see/hear it!
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artsyca 7y ago

Make sure to buy two copies so you can read it twice as fast

ScottFree 7y ago
I'm buying 6! I'll be CTO by the end of the month!
- jstanier 7y ago
  Oh no, these people know the secret!

s_Hogg 7y ago

Well done, this is an area that could use more declarative information and less guesswork. I think there's another question that also needs answering: how do I make myself _want_ to be a manager? A lot of times, the incentives tell the engineer not to bother because the money is already good and you have a decent impact anyway. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.

jstanier 7y ago
That's a very good question. In the introduction I've said that I've written the book as a way of letting people understand what the role is really like so they can make that decision. However, I think that I could use a sidebar to the reader to allow them to further question their own motives, and help them make that decision more clearly.

zerr 7y ago

Question to CTOs - are you happy? When I see what particular CTO does day to day, assuming he/she was an engineer before - it seems quite boring. It seems they've sacrificed their engineering side in exchange for a bigger salary.

beders 7y ago
As CTO I'm trying to incorporate both sides: some hacking under the umbrella of a "Research Lab" and oversight/representation. I definitely feel the lack of management training. Being a nerd for decades doesn't mean you know how to lead a bunch of nerds ;)
blowski 7y ago
The grind of constantly learning the latest technologies eventually got boring, and now I really enjoy managing developers. For me personally, helping an unhappy or under-performing developer get out of their slump is a really rewarding experience. I don't enjoy long-winded, pointless meetings - but if you're organisation has so many of them, you'll get pulled into them anyway once you're senior enough.
- jstanier 7y ago
  I'm generally aligned with this comment. I really enjoy helping others succeed. I also have a lot of input into the product strategy, and that is very rewarding for me also.
- swyx 7y ago
  i think i am an under-performing developer. if you dont mind sharing some secret sauce... what are the first questions you think about asking to diagnose whats going on?
  - blowski 7y ago
    What makes you think you're under-performing? I think the "secret" is simply to make sure people know what they're suppoesd to be doing, that they want to do it, and that they feel they have everything they need to do it. That won't necessarily always work, because not all under-performance is work-related - if you've just had a baby, going through divorce or bereavement, I'd expect you to be 'under-performing' and wouldn't try to fix it. If you do want a chat, I'm available on email (it's on my profile page).

BossingAround 7y ago

Do you also deal with the 'why' of moving to the management track? I've seen quite a few people becoming depressed and moving back from the mgmt track to their old position.

jstanier 7y ago
I said something similar in another comment, but one of the things I say in the introduction is that I've written the book to help people understand what the management track is really about. So if someone reads the book and decides that it isn't for them, I think that I can hopefully say I've helped them also.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
In a lot of companies the “why” is simply about money. There may be a technical career track but it’s really hard to move forward on it compared to the management track. So for most it’s just money. And the jump in salary is often enough to compensate for any dissatisfaction the move causes.

kitsune_ 7y ago

Congrats on the book. Have you ever explored alternative forms of management and organizational forms? Stuff like Sociocracy, Teal (from Reinventing Organizations) or management as envisioned by Deming. I wonder whether the engineering manager role as usually interpreted isn't really an anti-pattern, I mean we're basically applying Taylorism to knowledge work.

jstanier 7y ago
Thank you! I haven't gone into detail about these in the book. This is very much the standard Engineering Manager route that people would find in most places in industry right now. However - if you don't mind - I would love to use those as examples in the final chapters where I mention the opportunities offered by moving into start-ups, and also where our managers will be given more autonomy to set the culture of a wider organization (of which that culture could involve much looser management structures). Great pointers, thank you.
- kitsune_ 7y ago
  Cool! I actually work at a company that adopted Holacracy roughly 3 years ago. In many ways it's probably much less loose and more formal than most people think (I mean there is a written constitution written in Legalese). There are still roles that resemble the classical management role, i.e. there is a role that is responsible for setting strategies and assigning people into roles and monitoring role fit within their 'circle' (think team or business unit), called the circle's lead link. Yet there is a process for any role holder to propose putting those accountabilities into a new role or into a process. Role holders can also propose the creation of new roles or policies if they feel a tension. Then there is a structured process to deal with these proposals, and people need to demonstrate that the proposal would cause harm and reduce the capacity for the circle to achieve its purpose in order to have a valid objection. People in roles ultimately have ultimate autonomy on how they want to achieve their role's purpose. The lead link role can give relative prioritization if there are conflicts, but the lead link can't say 'you have to work on this right now and this is how you gonna do it'. What ultimately happens is that the traditional accountabilities of a manger end up being distributed across multiple roles, so people might have software developer role, but might also be responsible for defining the hiring standards, or do people development etc. It's kinda similar to the book "Turn the Ship around" where you don't have to ask for permission to do something and there is a process to address any tensions that arise from this power to act autonomously.

blowski 7y ago

I don't know whether it's in the book - perhaps it's in the "How to Win Friends and Influence People" chapter - but one thing I struggle with is communicating outwards and upwards. I tend to assume that everybody else in the company knows that my team works in the way it does because that's how you deliver software successfully. Often, this comes back to bite when I learn that other managers think the team should be managed differently, and because I haven't made enough efforts to sell our methodology, those managers can have more influence than I'd like. So, as an Engineering Manager, it's not enough that everybody in your team is happy and produce. You also have to be an advocate for your team to the rest of the company.

jstanier 7y ago
I totally agree on your final sentence there. There's a number of things in that chapter you mention, and there's also material on managing upwards earlier on in the book. As an example of something I personally struggle with: what's the best way to have the rest of the company know what all of our teams are working on without A) going into too much detail B) being obtuse C) opening ourselves up for miscommunication to customers or deadline promises D) giving ourselves room to fail, because not everything will work out. The current iteration is a fortnightly newsletter that I curate between product and the engineering managers in the department and it gets sent around, but making everyone happy with it is /so/ hard.
- blowski 7y ago
  You really hit the nail on the head there. It's so hard to give the right people the right information at the right time. I like the idea of the newsletter. Do you focus mostly on achievements, or discuss 'ways of working' as well? I'm really looking forward to the book, by the way.
  - jstanier 7y ago
    Thank you! The target audience for the newsletter was decided as "the busy exec". Not too much text, lots of gifs of functionality that we've built, etc. There's some separate newsletters we do as well - there's a fortnightly "what's going on in the backend" one, curated by our infrastructure teams that's aimed at engineers. Currently the general case newsletter goes to Engineering, Product, Product Design, and the exec group. We don't think it's quite good enough for the staff@ mailing list yet, but maybe we're just being over-cautious. It's really hard to get the balance right.

JNRowe 7y ago

Clickable links for my fellow loafers: https://www.theengineeringmanager.com https://www.theengineeringmanager.com https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-software-engineering-manager https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-softw...

Etheryte 7y ago

As someone who's constantly at somewhat of a crossroads on the subject, this book's intro leads me to believe it's exactly up my tree. However, I would prefer to read a physical book — is it possible to subscribe for updates so I know when it comes out?

jstanier 7y ago
I don't know if there's a way to subscribe for updates with the publisher, but if you use Twitter I'm on there as @jstanier and I give updates on how it's going. If you're not on Twitter then I can drop you an email.
- sciurus 7y ago
  I'd recommend setting up a mailing list and promoting it on your site. See the "stay in touch" section at https://dataintensive.net/ https://dataintensive.net/ or the "sign up for newsletter" section on https://the-cloud-book.com/ https://the-cloud-book.com/ for examples.
  - jstanier 7y ago
    Yeah, that's a good idea. My blog has a mailing list but I did a wonderful job of making it extremely hard to find.

proc0 7y ago

I'd love a blog about how to AVOID becoming a manager as an engineer or technical person. It really seems "contributors" are at the bottom of the pyramid, especially in companies whose core business is not technical in nature.

nvarsj 7y ago
It's not particularly hard. Just never accept a leadership position :). As long as you keep your technical skills sharp, you should never be short of a job. However your income will likely plateau very early in your career. You can try to become famous as a way to counteract that, but it is substantially harder than just going into leadership.
- proc0 7y ago
  > However your income will likely plateau very early in your career. yes this is sad part. hoping AI will take over leadership and only AI engineers will be needed. /jk

brianmcc 7y ago

If anyone is considering moving into engineering management, you'd do well to look not just at the how but the why. If it's for status/salary rather than the change in nature of the work be very careful about making the move. You need to really want to manage and develop people (with all the idiosyncracies that real human beings come with!), and to communicate, co-ordinate, and delegate for a living. Some will love this, others hate it. But don't view it as a natural progression that will work for everyone.

cloverich 7y ago
Communicate, co-ordinate, and delegate feels like a great sound bite for what entry level management is.
supernova87a 7y ago
Yes, junior people frequently make the incorrect assumption that entering management is a promotion (partly because we have made the mistake of unthinkingly treating/rewarding it as such). They are often incentivized to seek management roles as part of a "this must be my career path" because of the associated salary. It is a different role, and not merely a coder who tells people what to do. It has a different skill set, and some people will fail at / only muddle through it just like learning a new language or tool. If you don't like dealing with people's problems, enjoy solving the problem at a detailed level and being quiet and working things out on your own, then management may not be for you. There are companies that reward talented individual contributors as much as good managers, but they are rare. Also I would say that an individual contributor needs to be quite good to match a mediocre manager's salary, unfortunately -- but that's how the hierarchy is generally set up.
- volkk 7y ago
  Realistically speaking though, manager is an upwards trajectory in the CS world. Most companies don't define the IC track well, and a staff engineer is usually a 10 year veteran whereas a manager path, even if you hate it with a passion is a quick way to get a really high salary with low years of experience. Even more salary once you become director and that's not out of the realm of normal with 5-7 years of exp. I know 1 staff engineer, and 0 principal engineers, whereas I know tons of directors/VPs. Clearly, the way to more money in the long run is the manager path even if you find it horrible.

xwowsersx 7y ago

I've been looking for something like this. Hope it's good. One thing: the description starts with "Software startups make global headlines every day". That line seems completely disconnected from the rest of the description and it seems nothing would be lacking if you started with the next sentence instead.

jstanier 7y ago
Sure, that's good feedback and makes a lot of sense. I can edit that blurb.

mnsc 7y ago

This looks interesting. I assume that this is very us-centric though? Have you gotten any international reactions/feedback during writing? I guess it's har to say but how applicable would this be in other parts of the engineering world? I've only worked in tech in Sweden and I sometimes feel like that "it's pretty much the same" but other times: "us tech scene is aliens on another planet".

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jstanier 7y ago
That's a good question. I'm English and I work for a UK company. I had some reviewers at the 50% stage who were from European companies and they didn't say anything specific about this, but I'd be interested to learn more about the US tech scene being quite alien - I haven't experienced it myself.
- mnsc 7y ago
  Well, I guess I assumed wrong then! =) And for me as a Swede the most alien thing for me is the "lone genius startup"-thing (that probably is very over represented/emphasized here at HN) where developers work for stocks(?) and hope(?) that the company will blow up and seem to take great personal risks. Of course that exists here as well in small startups but we have so strong work force-regulations that I don't think it can get that extreme. And now that I think of it it might be that we are the odd ones so maybe it's not so much u.s. vs. e.u. as u.s. vs sweden. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  - jstanier 7y ago
    I understand. Yeah, we're a VC-backed company but it didn't feel like the journey was a movie script at any point.

rafaelbarbosa 7y ago

Congratulations on getting published! I've bought the book and read until the Delegation chapter. Up until now I find that the topics are interesting and the writing is very direct and unpretentious which I appreciate. I also like the approach you took of wrapping it in a story, I think it makes the topic a lot less dry. At the same time I feel that it doesn't go into the detail I would like. For instance I feel that the “How to Measure Your Output as a Manager” is a bit hand waved by using Andy Grove's equation. This is a topic I struggle with because I sometimes feel that I don't produce anything as a manager and that is frustrating. Nonetheless, the chapters I've read are fine as a starting point and appreciate that you suggest additional literature to deepen the topics. Overall I'm positive about the book, would buy again :)

jstanier 7y ago
That's kind of you to say that! Thank you. Can I email you to get some more of your feedback? What's the best way to contact you?
- rafaelbarbosa 7y ago
  Hi, sure, check my profile for my email.
bloopernova 7y ago
Thank you for reviewing the book, your comment was very helpful to me :)

vinnie1991 7y ago

Are there alternative methods on buying your book? I don't have PayPal and I don't have a credit card.

jstanier 7y ago
Good question! I don't know. I can ask my editor. When the print copy is out it will be available from bookshops and Amazon and so on, so maybe that's the short-term answer.

codeisawesome 7y ago

I can’t wait for it to come out of beta and be available in my O’Reilly subscription :)

jstanier 7y ago
I didn't even know that was a thing. :-) Ace!

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yaseer 7y ago

A great achievement, congrats! Although, it may never top your blog circa 2001, it's a fine achievement nonetheless.

jstanier 7y ago
We don't talk about that blog.

me551ah 7y ago

IMO being a good engineering manager is quite subjective and varies across companies and even teams. The traits of a good engineer would roughly be the same across companies and would be ranked according to knowledge, work experience and quality of code etc. And since a software engineer reports to an engineering manager, expectations are also based on the views of one person. Upper management in different companies would have different expectations from what an engineering manager should be. Some would want them to code, some wouldn't. Some would want them to utilize developers as much as possible while some would want them to keep work life balance of developers in mind. Same with teams. A much younger team would have vastly different views on what a good manager is compared to a team which is filled up of more senior people. A younger team might want the EM to be more hands-on while a senior team would want more autonomy. Then you also have HR and feedback from various teams to deal with. Company culture and popular managers would also drive some of the traits of an engineering manager. Having been an EM for multiple teams I've had to change my management style multiple times to better suit change in higher management and different teams. But I've always been appaled by how less content exists for learning about engineering management. Nice to see someone focus on this area!

JamesBarney 7y ago
I agree this is true of engineering managers but its also true of engineers. Some organizations want them to engage with end users and do a lot of business analysis others want them to focus on coding. Some organizations want engineers to follow protocol and coding guidelines to the tee. Other want you to make the right call for the circumstances. Some organizations don't care how long something takes but want it to work perfectly. Others want to make sure you deliver a product on time even if it's buggy. Some organizations expect you to always choose the right language/tool for the job, some want you to choose the organizational language/tool everyone is familiar with. I'm a consultant and sometimes run into this issue. Building out an MVP for a start up is a completely different mindset than working on a fortune 500 Enterprise app.
- LordFast 7y ago
  Same for product managers as well, ranging from technical customer support agents at enterprise fortune 500s to app developers at small startups.

fujohnwang 7y ago

I had written such a book too, but in Chinese, you can find it here if you are interested: https://afoo.me/books.html https://afoo.me/books.html

jonaldomo 7y ago

Hey I made an app to help me be a better engineering manager, I’d love your opinion on it if you had some time. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/team-lead/id1466421445?mt=8 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/team-lead/id1466421445?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.jmoses.manus.play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.jmoses.manu...

circlefavshape 7y ago

> If anyone's at all interested ... pitch(ing) a publisher with their own book idea, then ... I'm more than happy to give you any advice Really? How do I contact you?

jstanier 7y ago
@jstanier on Twitter if that works for you.

redleader9345 7y ago

Warning ... cynical, pessimistic viewpoint coming. Here is a pattern that I've observed over a few jobs that I've held as a developer at different companies. Wondering if anyone has any similar experience. The first line manager (only manages individual contributors) exhibits these characteristics. 1.)He used to be a coder, but that was a long time ago. SQL hasn't changed, so that's the bit he's drawn to when he feels like he needs to roll up his sleeves and contribute. 2.)He has some form of attention deficit, demonstrated by the fact that he can't hold down a conversation really well. Especially if it gets technical. 3.)He really overplays the busy body persona. Always checking phone, always late for a meeting. 4.)He's really insecure in his position within the company, always fearful that he's going to be cut loose. This is extremely amplified when he gets a new manager himself. 5.)He has very little influence over direction. He's really just a proxy mouthpiece for higher level management. And he loves to have status update meetings where he informs the team of all the important updates he received in the big important meeting he attended with other big important people. 6.)Instead of being someone who is respected by the team, he becomes more of someone you have sympathy for. 7.)You wonder why he never asks the real questions, like "are you happy with your role?". And you realize it's because he doesn't really want to hear the answer. He couldn't really do anything about it anyway. See point #5. 8.) He's way too preoccupied worrying about his own safety to nurture the team. 9.) As a developer, you have the safety net of knowing that in the worst case scenario (terminated) you could find another job fairly quickly with pay parody. As a manager, you don't have that comfort blanket. So you cling on to your current job no matter how badly you are abused. And people lose more respect for you because you look pathetic without a backbone. 10.) As a cynical developer in his 40's, you realize that you don't observe many 50+ developers in the wild, and you bemoan the idea that you're going to have to suck it up and play manager eventually. Anxiety and existential crisis is built into the tech career trajectory, and I feel like the only winning strategy is to be ok with moving backward income wise at various points in your timeline.

sanderjd 7y ago
Without commenting on the specifics on your comment: what does this have to do with the OP's book? If anything, writing a book with ideas, experiences, and techniques aimed at helping people be better at this job is responsive to all the problems you identify.

JimboOmega 7y ago

Does the book cover how to get the position in the first place? I've read countless books (Like "The Managers Path" and "Managing Humans"), blog articles, etc, and tried many strategies, but it never seems to happen. Usually for the catch-22 reason of not having managing experience. I've even had past managers they had no worries about me having the skills or knowledge to do it... but it still doesn't happen.

jstanier 7y ago
The book assumes someone is interested in it or just started. I didn't cover landing the job, but that's a really interesting point. Personally, I got promoted from within at the beginning of my management journey. Have you been applying to external companies? I wonder if others on here have more experiences in that area that they'd like to share.
- JimboOmega 7y ago
  "Applying to external companies" as currently an IC looking for an EM role? I have tried this on a limited level in the past, and either get no response or get told that I don't have experience (I have a few months with one direct report)
mixmastamyk 7y ago
The first thing is to step up and become the lead developer on your team. If you’re not being proactive folks won’t imagine it on their own. Clothes are another angle. If you look and act like a leader, soon you shall be one.
- JimboOmega 7y ago
  Well I am a woman, so there is that image problem automatically. You're right about the other bit, though. Even as the most knowledgeable and senior person on the team, I do have something of a habit of letting people who are loud derail me from my ideas (or simply talk over me), which can damage perceptions. It's a thing I try to fight every day, though.

vi-mode 7y ago

OT: for those who have never been in leader/managerial positions: - Leading people is 1000x less fun than coding - Leading people makes your more money than as an avg coder - Leading people too long makes you lose your technical skills slowly - At some age and for most, there's no other option than leading, 'go or grow' - Leading bigger headcounts is comparable to competitive sports 24/7 and shouldn't be underestimated

ryanelfman 7y ago
Great summary
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burlesona 7y ago
1000x less fun? That’s extremely subjective, and depends enormously on what you draw satisfaction from. Leading people can be a lot of fun if you genuinely care about the people you are leading and take joy from empowering and enabling them to grow and succeed.
- vi-mode 7y ago
  Yes and no. You can move mountains with good teams, this is great and you will draw satisfaction from. But IDK if you had ever 100+ people in your reporting line for a longer time. Then you knew that it's everything BUT definitely not a lot of fun. It's super hard work and will push you and your mind dangerously to the limit.
  - thewanisdown 7y ago
    It's a different mindset, but I still think it's fun. For me, the key with that size of a group was focusing on the development of the leaders under me. When I make sure they are set up for success, things go smoothly. The hardest time in my life was trying to micromanage a large group. Once you let go, and focus on the bigger picture, it's quite fun. Challenging, for sure, but very fun.

t_rope 7y ago

Congratulations on getting as far as you have. I look forward to reading this, I've been making this transition so I'm sure plenty will relate to me. A couple of points : Is there anywhere I can pay for this in pounds? Your choice of excerpts is very teasing, but I haven't had a chance to read any of the in depth content. Would you consider one of the sub-sections? That said, I suppose they did work for me... So maybe you know what you're doing!

jstanier 7y ago
Hey! I think you'll have to wait until the thing is done and then you can buy it from Amazon and other bookstores. Couple of months, I guess. The publisher is in charge of choosing the excerpts, but I'll feed that back to them.

matttah 7y ago

Jstanier - Great job, this looks really cool. Curious what icon set are you using? I saw you have similar style icons across a few of your projects, is there a standard library you are using or are you creating them yourself?

jstanier 7y ago
Hey - icon set? What do you mean by icon set? :-)
- matttah 7y ago
  Just the images on the front page, guess a bit bigger than icons!
  - jstanier 7y ago
    I /think/ I know what you're talking about, but just in case this gets derailed in a back-and-forth and lost, then feel free to contact me on Twitter @jstanier or my email is in my profile - we can chat more easily there.

rainyMammoth 7y ago

In most big companies in Silicon valley, being a manager is not a promotion but rather a parallel track. What I find strange is that most of big cos expect managers to not be technical anymore. There is that weird expectation that the manager should have been technical in the past but is now only used as an enabler for the team.

crimsonalucard 7y ago
Even in silicon valley this is largely the minority. Yes it does occur more frequently here but not to any scale worth noting. It is part of human nature for leads to gain more than the fair share even when the leads are doing disproportionally less work and less skilled work. This has happened across the board for almost every culture past tribal cultures.

cr0sh 7y ago

> If anyone's at all interested in learning about what it's like to pitch a publisher with their own book idea, then I guess I've been successful at that now, so I'm more than happy to give you any advice. Maybe this needs to be a new book? Seriously, all of this sounds wonderful - and thank you (but I would love to hear some tips on getting a book published from zero - I certainly write enough that I could probably fill a book, whether anyone would read it though...???).

ninjakeyboard 7y ago
I'd love to hear more about this as well.

bloopernova 7y ago

Very relevant to this new team lead (since Autumn last year). I bought a copy, I can't wait to read it :)

jstanier 7y ago
Thank you! I hope it helps. Let me know if there's anything you'd like covered.

ascotan 7y ago

Embrace the dark side Luke.

SteveMorin 7y ago

Have some questions for you. What's the best way to get in touch?

jstanier 7y ago
@jstanier on Twitter, or my email is in my profile.

atmosx 7y ago

I will keep in on your book. I've read the "Effective Manager" and the "Manager's Path" so far. The first one has some good hints here and there but it's overly verbose and at times feels like a marketing campaign. The second one, I loved and resonates with my experience so far. Congrats for getting published!

jstanier 7y ago
Thank you! I hope you like it.

takiavosky 7y ago

Man you have a PhD. Is this book worth reading for someone who just have basic education?

derekja 7y ago
I have a PhD. The piece of paper hangs in my bathroom so I can look at it while I shit. It was a personally fulfilling experience that taught me a lot about academic research and and is almost completely divorced from the practice of software engineering management. (and most other things.. I'd suggest never being intimidated by a PhD.) The book is written on a very approachable level, I'm enjoying it so far.
- jstanier 7y ago
  Thank you, I'm pleased you think that. My PhD was in compilers anyway. I have no formal management training. :-)

DenisM 7y ago

What is the format of the book? PDF? Epub? Mobi? Html? Is it / will it be readable on a Kindle?

code_chimp 7y ago
Pragmatic Programmers beta and published books are available as all three - PDF, epub, and mobi (which reads fine on my Kindle).

ozmaverick72 7y ago

A competent manager is a very rare breed indeed. Competent team leads - I've had a few of those. But at any level higher than that all competence seems to fall away. Success would seem to be despite management rather than because of it.

codegeek 7y ago

This looks great and I would love to get one. I am interested in the Hard Copy only (I can't do ebooks). Is there a mailing list for the hard copy ?

jstanier 7y ago
Sure! Sign up here: https://t.co/burXhyiuoK?amp=1 https://t.co/burXhyiuoK?amp=1

kdeldycke 7y ago

I transitioned from software engineer to engineering management 2 years ago. It was by far the most challenging (still rewarding) moment of my career. I was lucky to have the opportunity to build up a team from scratch to take over the services and architecture I designed, developed and operated. Biggest lesson learned: you're no longer the decision-maker on your technical stack. Your team is responsible. Still, you’re liable for the result and its impact on business. That duality is hard to reconcile for former engineer. The solution? Build a culture. Better: create the conditions for a sustainable culture to emerge and persist. That insight, and many other advices for new managers are compiled at: https://github.com/kdeldycke/awesome-management https://github.com/kdeldycke/awesome-management