4 ms·

it seems like "tech lead" is a position with responsibility but no real authority, a sort-of middle manager. i'm sure the books are good, but the thing I'd want

it seems like "tech lead" is a position with responsibility but no real authority, a sort-of middle manager. i'm sure the books are good, but the thing I'd want help with is how to achieve a balance between ensuring the team is delivering good work (in a technical sense) while making sure the people above you on the food chain - those with actual power - are kept happy.

procinct 6y ago
Having read peopleware, that’s effectively what it is about.
- beckingz 6y ago
  This is the must read book on making functional orgs.
closeparen 6y ago
Power comes from: a) coworkers respect your competence & judgement so they align with your decisions on technical matters b) engineering manager believes what you have to say about what the project needs, which may include staff allocation & performance management
- Scarblac 6y ago
  And therefore not from a "tech lead" title. Edit: I'm saying this because I decided to stop being "tech lead" recently, precisely because of the problem of responsibility without authority. Yes, people respect me and my decisions, up to a point (we have several very competent people and we don't always all agree) . They did that before I was tech lead and to the exact same amount after. My work did not change one iota compared to what I was doing before. But suddenly I got blamed for some things that I had no power to prevent. That's just not healthy.
- baron_harkonnen 6y ago
  Sounds like you've never worked at a startup where the CEO walks in one day and says "we're changing direction" everyone stops what they're doing and desperately tries to turn the boat around, only to have that happen again two week later... Like it or not, that is what power is. Building respect and trust is great, but you can have all of these things and not have any real power. I've seen trusted respected people let go in a heartbeat when times are tough. The people that can decide to 'let people go' are the ones with power. In my experience tech leads and middle managers often have to do the difficult task of balancing the whims of power with sound technical decisions. This is a hard task because it's frankly much easier to just bow to the whims of leadership and wait for the day when they decide a "shakeup" is needed and layoff most of middle management.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    If you don’t trust or respect the CEO you leave. Could any other CEO have come into Apple in 1997 and done what Jobs did? They respected Jobs more than they would have a generic CEO. Heck didn’t the Pandora CEO convince people to work for two years with no pay? A number of us stayed at a startup until the bitter end because the leadership was completely honest with us and the investors promised to pay us for every hour we worked.
  - solidasparagus 6y ago
    I mean that's not really power if your staff quits on you after you do that. If you want to be able to pull off those sorts of pivots successfully, you need your coworkers to respect your competence and judgement.
kqr 6y ago
It doesn't matter where you are in the org chart. Being a good leader is about prestige and respect, not dictatorial power. With prestige comes attention to what you say and do, and ability to influence decisions. If you feel like the middle manager is powerless, these are exactly the types of books to read. Other recommendations include High Output Management, Drive, How To Talk So Kids Will Listen (I'm serious), Turn the Ship Around, Out of the Crisis, and more.
- MacSystem 6y ago
  Which Drive book are you talking about? who's the author? Those books you mentioned seems interesting, I'll check out. If you have more on topic that you think are also worth recommend, please let me know.
  - neogodless 6y ago
    "Drive" is by Daniel Pink, and it's about what really motivates problem solvers/intelligence workers.
    - MacSystem 6y ago
      thanks
baxtr 6y ago
That’s something I have learned early in my career. No one will “give” you authority. You have to create your own role through trust and leading by example.
solidist 6y ago
https://dev.to/solidi/what-is-a-tech-lead-anyway-483p https://dev.to/solidi/what-is-a-tech-lead-anyway-483p Well said.
_the_inflator 6y ago
This description sounds more like a product manager and this is essentially how I see Tech Leads in my department. This makes them really think hard about their responsibilities and the actual job, that needs to be done.
carterklein13 6y ago
I feel like "tech lead" also varies so much from company to company. Where I work, people are technically bestowed the title of "tech lead," and this just means they have to take ownership of far more work for essentially no more pay. Most "tech leads" where I work are senior engineers, but not all senior engineers are "tech leads." Here, it seems more like a purgatory positions where you don't want or have the skillset required for engineering management, but are far more senior than other senior engineers.
- closeparen 6y ago
  I usually see it as “most senior person with responsibility for this domain” which, if it’s a smaller / less intense domain, may not be that senior at all.
- bryanrasmussen 6y ago
  Well you can set standards, if you're the picky type you can then say how you want things done. I am often less picky than other people, but I find that the picky types often want things that I feel are less than optimal. So getting offered tech lead coming into a place can be seen as a good defensive choice if you are coming from a place where you feel like you've been suffering because you didn't have the control.
techiferous 6y ago
> those with actual power The power that comes with a job title or position is actually quite limited. And it also calls into question as what exactly is meant by power. Personal power (getting your way?) or creative power (putting forth your energy for the benefit of the organization). I find that it's actually not too hard to have a great deal of creative power, regardless of personal power -- by listening and responding well to the needs of others and by effectively solving problems.
- fergie 6y ago
  It is ever possible to have real power as an (non-executive non-shareholding) employee of an organisation?
  - imtringued 6y ago
    Why not? The only "problem" is that everyone who actually goes down that path becomes a manager or executive given enough time.
  - techiferous 6y ago
    Power implies the ability to cause change. When you say "real" power I think you might have some specific kind of change in mind. What kind of organizational influence are you considering "real" power?
scarface74 6y ago
Authority is not equal to power. Classic management theory is that their are three levers of power in an organization - relationship, expert, and role in that order. No one is going to go the extra mile for a leader they don’t like or one they think is an idiot. Role power is the least effective. I’ve left plenty of jobs because of a reorganization put me under a lead/manager that I didn’t like or respect or I thought they were an idiot. Even if you don’t leave a company because they lean on their role power too much, people will “work to rule”. I’ve had a lot more influence working at small companies by building relationships and demonstrating expertise.

procinct 6y ago

Having read peopleware, that’s effectively what it is about.

beckingz 6y ago
This is the must read book on making functional orgs.

closeparen 6y ago

Power comes from: a) coworkers respect your competence & judgement so they align with your decisions on technical matters b) engineering manager believes what you have to say about what the project needs, which may include staff allocation & performance management

Scarblac 6y ago
And therefore not from a "tech lead" title. Edit: I'm saying this because I decided to stop being "tech lead" recently, precisely because of the problem of responsibility without authority. Yes, people respect me and my decisions, up to a point (we have several very competent people and we don't always all agree) . They did that before I was tech lead and to the exact same amount after. My work did not change one iota compared to what I was doing before. But suddenly I got blamed for some things that I had no power to prevent. That's just not healthy.
baron_harkonnen 6y ago
Sounds like you've never worked at a startup where the CEO walks in one day and says "we're changing direction" everyone stops what they're doing and desperately tries to turn the boat around, only to have that happen again two week later... Like it or not, that is what power is. Building respect and trust is great, but you can have all of these things and not have any real power. I've seen trusted respected people let go in a heartbeat when times are tough. The people that can decide to 'let people go' are the ones with power. In my experience tech leads and middle managers often have to do the difficult task of balancing the whims of power with sound technical decisions. This is a hard task because it's frankly much easier to just bow to the whims of leadership and wait for the day when they decide a "shakeup" is needed and layoff most of middle management.
- scarface74 6y ago
  If you don’t trust or respect the CEO you leave. Could any other CEO have come into Apple in 1997 and done what Jobs did? They respected Jobs more than they would have a generic CEO. Heck didn’t the Pandora CEO convince people to work for two years with no pay? A number of us stayed at a startup until the bitter end because the leadership was completely honest with us and the investors promised to pay us for every hour we worked.
- solidasparagus 6y ago
  I mean that's not really power if your staff quits on you after you do that. If you want to be able to pull off those sorts of pivots successfully, you need your coworkers to respect your competence and judgement.

kqr 6y ago

It doesn't matter where you are in the org chart. Being a good leader is about prestige and respect, not dictatorial power. With prestige comes attention to what you say and do, and ability to influence decisions. If you feel like the middle manager is powerless, these are exactly the types of books to read. Other recommendations include High Output Management, Drive, How To Talk So Kids Will Listen (I'm serious), Turn the Ship Around, Out of the Crisis, and more.

MacSystem 6y ago
Which Drive book are you talking about? who's the author? Those books you mentioned seems interesting, I'll check out. If you have more on topic that you think are also worth recommend, please let me know.
- neogodless 6y ago
  "Drive" is by Daniel Pink, and it's about what really motivates problem solvers/intelligence workers.
  - MacSystem 6y ago
    thanks

baxtr 6y ago

That’s something I have learned early in my career. No one will “give” you authority. You have to create your own role through trust and leading by example.

solidist 6y ago

https://dev.to/solidi/what-is-a-tech-lead-anyway-483p https://dev.to/solidi/what-is-a-tech-lead-anyway-483p Well said.

_the_inflator 6y ago

This description sounds more like a product manager and this is essentially how I see Tech Leads in my department. This makes them really think hard about their responsibilities and the actual job, that needs to be done.

carterklein13 6y ago

I feel like "tech lead" also varies so much from company to company. Where I work, people are technically bestowed the title of "tech lead," and this just means they have to take ownership of far more work for essentially no more pay. Most "tech leads" where I work are senior engineers, but not all senior engineers are "tech leads." Here, it seems more like a purgatory positions where you don't want or have the skillset required for engineering management, but are far more senior than other senior engineers.

closeparen 6y ago
I usually see it as “most senior person with responsibility for this domain” which, if it’s a smaller / less intense domain, may not be that senior at all.
bryanrasmussen 6y ago
Well you can set standards, if you're the picky type you can then say how you want things done. I am often less picky than other people, but I find that the picky types often want things that I feel are less than optimal. So getting offered tech lead coming into a place can be seen as a good defensive choice if you are coming from a place where you feel like you've been suffering because you didn't have the control.

techiferous 6y ago

> those with actual power The power that comes with a job title or position is actually quite limited. And it also calls into question as what exactly is meant by power. Personal power (getting your way?) or creative power (putting forth your energy for the benefit of the organization). I find that it's actually not too hard to have a great deal of creative power, regardless of personal power -- by listening and responding well to the needs of others and by effectively solving problems.

fergie 6y ago
It is ever possible to have real power as an (non-executive non-shareholding) employee of an organisation?
- imtringued 6y ago
  Why not? The only "problem" is that everyone who actually goes down that path becomes a manager or executive given enough time.
- techiferous 6y ago
  Power implies the ability to cause change. When you say "real" power I think you might have some specific kind of change in mind. What kind of organizational influence are you considering "real" power?

scarface74 6y ago

Authority is not equal to power. Classic management theory is that their are three levers of power in an organization - relationship, expert, and role in that order. No one is going to go the extra mile for a leader they don’t like or one they think is an idiot. Role power is the least effective. I’ve left plenty of jobs because of a reorganization put me under a lead/manager that I didn’t like or respect or I thought they were an idiot. Even if you don’t leave a company because they lean on their role power too much, people will “work to rule”. I’ve had a lot more influence working at small companies by building relationships and demonstrating expertise.