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How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
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Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#12I think this is largely practical advice if you want to influence a tech company at all costs. That is -- to have multiple projects lined for each executive goal that you can singlehandedly deliver on to thunderous applause.
That said, it's often easier said than done. We've all worked at places where projects were canceled 3 months in due to all sorts of reasons (e.g. security breach changes all priorities, nobody cares about your database change now).
So I do think there comes a point where an engineer asks themselves -- "How many projects do I have to prepare, how many stakeholders do I have to convince, how many wins do I need before I see tangible benefits commensurate with my investment?" What if I just let the executives set the course and provide my insight if asked, and still get 90% of the pay.
Ultimately this is a guide to work successfully within a dysfunctional system, but nonetheless great advice for that.
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#13Man, I must not have worked at dysfunctional enough companies. I can't relate to the opening remarks in this article at all. I'm used to really open communication from the top down and, even when we build in a direction I disagree with, we've discussed things enough that I'm at least interested in seeing why someone else I consider intelligent sees the world so differently. Perhaps it has to do with only working for companies founded by engineers rather than product/marketing? I'm not really sure.
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#14Where is the influence?
Instead of waiting to be told what to do and being cynical about bad ideas coming up when there's a vacumn and not doing what he wants to do, the author keeps a back log of good and important ideas that he waits to bring up for when someone important says something is priority. He gets what he wants done, compromising on timing.
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#15It seems like this post can be summarized as follows:
1. If your manager has something in particular they want you to do, you should do it.
2. If your manager doesn't have something in particular they want you to do, you should figure out what they will want you to do in the future, and make any necessary preparations so that it will be doable when they want it.
I'd say it's good advice. The only thing I would add is that managers and leadership are sometimes happy to be given something different than what they asked for, so long as it's still what they wanted at a higher level. This is risky, but success can be a fast track to respect and autonomy.
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#16Politics is inescapable. Software engineers can't live outside of them. Whether these are the team politics, org politics, etc. I don't think engineers are universality bad/good at politics. It's just like anything else, takes practice.
I used to run my own business when I was a child, and made a lot of money from it. Paid my way through school with my earnings. There was no sales or marketing, and all I did was product and engineering, and at no point was I politicking. So no, it's possible (albeit difficult) to not be part of the meat grinder, I have done it.
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#17It seems like this post can be summarized as follows: 1. If your manager has something in particular they want you to do, you should do it. 2. If your manager doesn't have something in particular they want you to do, you should figure out what they will want you to do in the future , and make any necessary preparations so that it will be doable when they want it. I'd say it's good advice. The only thing I would add i…
I would rather not live my life with the sole purpose of people pleasing managers
Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
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Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#19Where is the influence?
Instead of waiting to be told what to do and being cynical about bad ideas coming up when there's a vacumn and not doing what he wants to do, the author keeps a back log of good and important ideas that he waits to bring up for when someone important says something is priority. He gets what he wants done, compromising on timing.
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Re: How I influence tech company politics as a staff software engineer
#20This is usually in big corps, so if you like working in these hellholes, then proceed with all these shenanigans. I worked there before and it's not really good for engineering, let alone engineers' mindset, because in addition to the actual technical stress, now you have to deal with all this bs from people who do nothing all day but these games. Small companies are the best for me, and I remember one time in a small company they hired a manager from a corp. In a year, he managed to fuck up everything, 4 engineers left including myself, and turned the work culture into rules and policies instead of adults working with each other towards a common goal.