Knowledge shared by our community

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.

If the Personality Fits: How a Company can Boost New Hires’ Potential

This article discusses the challenges of hiring software engineers in Brazil and the actions taken by a company to overcome them. The company allowed remote work, demanded responsibility, and introduced a program to help those who did not speak English. The lessons learned from this experience are to be flexible, understand strengths and weaknesses, and explain decisions and vision to those who share it.

Improving Company Culture: The Importance of Supporting Your Employees’ Personal and Professional Sides

When tasked with rebuilding a tech team from scratch, the author identified underlying issues that led to the team's departure and implemented processes to increase engagement and foster an open-feedback culture. These processes made the organization more attractive during the hiring process and improved retention rates. The author continues to evaluate the team's needs every three weeks to ensure the team is supported.

What Can Happen If You Don’t Plan Ahead Before Launching A New Product

A health management company was preparing to launch a web portal for clients to view and manage health reports. To avoid a data breach, the company had data safety and compliance teams in place to review development plans and sign off on completed products. It is important to bring in experienced data safety and compliance personnel early in the product's life cycle to ensure that sensitive medical and financial data is not breached.

Hard Data is the Best Evidence You Can Provide Against Assumptions

After four years of providing support and training, the company had seen a plateau in growth due to ignoring customer feedback. The founder was resistant to making changes, so the Technical Product Manager spent four months gathering customer feedback and data to prove the need for changes. With the hard data, the Product Manager was able to convince the founder to make the changes, resulting in increased productivity and sales growth. The lesson learned is that hard facts are needed to back up assumptions in order to make progressive changes.

How to Build a Great Engineering Team

As a VP of Engineering, the author has learned how to build a world-class engineering team while assembling the rocketship. This includes hiring great people, building an engineering brand, creating an impact-focused culture, and articulating the path forward. The author has plenty more to share about these lessons and looks forward to discussing them further.

How to Be an Effective Leader While Scaling Teams

This article discusses the importance of scaling an organization and building high-performing engineering teams. It outlines various actions to take, such as embracing failure, over-communicating, creating a culture of trust, and maximizing the "golden hours". The article also emphasizes the importance of being uncomfortable in a comfortable situation in order to keep scaling teams in terms of growth, skill set, and innovation.

Defend Your True North and Prioritize

This article discusses the importance of planning and prioritizing in a professional career, particularly for a Product Manager. It outlines strategies for setting a True North and OKRs, as well as how to politely say "No" to requests. The key lessons learned are that it is important to plan work, resources and time, streamline planning to reach True North, and prioritize by saying "No".

“There are no bad days.”

This article discusses how to be a pillar of positivity and radiate optimism as a leader. It suggests leaving bad moods at home, celebrating wins, and starting and ending meetings with something positive. It emphasizes the importance of staying positive in and out of the office, as it will have a positive effect on those around you.

How To Bring Change To An Organization

When moving to the U.S. from Germany, the author had to adjust to the more friendly culture. To bring change to their organization, they built relationships with co-workers by organizing trips to Germany and weekly exercises. They learned that investing time in relationships and communication was necessary to receive something back, and this would be beneficial when needing help.

My Unconventional Journey into Product Management

This story is about a person who was working in technical account management for a large software organization. Through their natural tendency to optimize and their "hack for everything" attitude, they developed a close working relationship with the product team and were eventually invited to visit them overseas. This eventually led to them becoming a candidate for a position in the product team, even though they had never considered it before. The lesson learned is that engaging with the product team and sharing ideas and skills can lead to unexpected opportunities.

Trust but Verify: How Much is Too Much Autonomy?

A development manager was informed two weeks prior to a Beta release that the team was going to miss the commitment by up to 8 weeks. After discovering that the instructions of not making any changes to the developer's estimates had been ignored, the manager held an accountability meeting with the developers. One of the engineers then revealed that the manager had taken all their commitments and systematically reduced them by 30%. After confronting the manager, the manager was kept on with a warning and the engineers saw that there was some compassion for not firing him. The manager went on to deliver well and eventually changed careers.

Developing a Company Vision that Motivates through the Heart (and Not the Head)

Tom Willerer was initially reluctant to create a company vision for his team, believing it was a pointless exercise. However, he eventually realized that it was about motivating the team rather than predicting the future. He then set out on a process to create a vision, involving a collaborative process, a low-fidelity artifact, a compelling story, and a performance. Through this process, he learned the importance of vision setting and the need to connect to people's hearts rather than their heads in order to motivate them.

Surviving an All-Hands Fire with No One On-Site

An Escalation Manager was tasked with solving a fire issue at a US datacenter during a banking holiday in France, where all engineers were remote. The Manager produced internal communication and a roadmap for the issue, and was able to efficiently handle the problem in a timely manner. The Manager learned that remote workers can be just as efficient and productive as onsite workers, and that it is possible to solve critical issues without having to come back to the office.

“Snapping the Chalk Line:” Organizational Problem-Solving

This memo is about a problem faced by a new engineering leader in a company that was unable to deliver new releases, resulting in a recap from new investors. The leader came up with the concept of "snapping the chalk line" to separate the configuration management streams for each feature, allowing them to deliver only those features that were ready on a particular date. The lesson learned was to use an organic (systems) thinking process when solving problems with the organization, rather than jumping to a corrective action based on a single root cause.

Being Reactive with Compensation Requests and Concerns

A person on the team had been offered a nearly full-time position with a low salary due to her studies, but asked for a full-time job with a market average salary. The company delayed their response, and when the person found another job with a better offer, the company proposed something close to it. The lesson learned was that if someone is of value and doing good work, the company should be quick to respond and show their appreciation. Delaying the response ended up costing the company more than if they had been more reactive.

Showing vs Telling an Employee their Shortcomings: Uncomfortable but Sometimes Necessary

A new Product Manager was introduced to the team a month before the team leader went on vacation. Despite showing promise, the PM had a tendency to challenge the assignments given to him and rarely delivered on them. The team leader held an all-hands meeting to give the PM a global view of the team's work and to motivate him. After a one-on-one meeting, the PM turned his approach around and became one of the highest deliverers. The team leader learned lessons about recruiting, delegating, and being open to different work styles.

The Importance of Analyzing Your Opportunities to Reach Your Career Goal

In today's job market, it is important to think outside the box and take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It is important to have a plan and be ready for the opportunities that arise, as they may lead to unexpected places. It is also important to consider what is important to you and why you want to reach your goals. Taking risks and making pragmatic decisions can help you reach your goals faster than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Importance of Working More Efficiently to Avoid Burnout

After working 12 hour days for two or three months, the protagonist was asked to work the weekend and had a realization that they were burned out. With the help of their manager and team, they were able to take a break and come back with a more mentor-like role. The organization also started delegating smaller tasks and training people to deploy them to the field. The protagonist learned that it is okay to say "no" when needed and that burn out can sneak up on you, so it is important to work efficiently.

The Customer is Always Right: Tips for Working Big on a Small Budget

The team was working on a high priority project for a customer who had paid in advance. The project was growing due to unclear requirements and it became clear that the budget was not enough to complete the project. A workshop was organized with the customer to understand the requirements and a timeline was drawn up. The project was successful and the team learned to speak to the customer directly and organize a workshop early in the process to understand the requirements.

Refusing to Compromise New Product Development in Spite of Executive Pressure

A Senior Product Manager was tasked with reviving a company by creating a new product. He had to teach the executives about product management and the lean startup model. He conducted research to understand the market and customer needs, and communicated regularly with executives to ensure alignment and progress. He was able to find success by being true to his vision, aligning the strategy, and communicating regularly.