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Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#201

Post by arcticbull »

sys_64738 wrote: post #156

Technical leads generally are not managers. There's a lot of confusion here as to the division between providing technical direction and managing people. Your task as a tech lead isn't to manage people. If that's being what you're being sold then get a written description of the job requirements.

Define manage, lol.

Tech leads work through their team to deliver. To work through their team, they need to drive to consensus. To do that, they need the support and understanding of their team, so they need to lead. To lead, you need to manage. That doesn't make a TL responsible for firing or resolving interpersonal disputes, but it certainly makes them responsible for coaching/mentorship/up-leveling in a much more direct and often valuable way than a manager.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#202

Post by Noumenon72 »

otobrglez wrote: post #126

Get the O'reilly's book "The Manager's Path - A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change" and READ IT. 1) You will not need to trust others to write better code/systems then you and that you will very likely be unable to code anymore. 2) Establish a good relationship with your team members. Seek for people who you can delegate to and trust. Trust and reliable people are really hard to find. When shit hits…

Should #1 start, "You will now" instead of "You will not"?

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#203

Post by abraxas »

itronitron wrote: post #141

I recommend getting clear guidance from your supervisor on what 'tech lead' means to them. A lot of the commenters here think tech lead is a management position however you shouldn't assume that your employer has that same view. It doesn't sound like you are a 'team lead' otherwise your position would be called 'team lead' and not 'tech lead'. Therefore you don't have any real control over what anyone does, you can't…

Yes tech lead in my experience is a BS non title invented to keep the most productive rank and file developers feel like their careers are going somewhere. It's extra responsibility and expectations with no additional empowerment

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#204

Post by lh15 »

derekchiang wrote: post #169
jaspal747 wrote: post #11

Few things I would like to say: It will no longer be about you. It will all be about your team. Make sure you create a great team, nurture them, train them, teach them how to think critically (in doing so yourself). Ask your team to write out everything they plan to do before they actually do it. Reason with them on what they wrote and what approach decisions they plan to take. Teach them to think long term. Writing…

I think your advice is great for tech leads at big companies, but for tech leads at startups, I have to disagree with the point about "Work for your product - not your company." At a startup, the business objective has to come first and the engineering team has to keep the bigger picture in mind. "Long-term stability and robustness" won't matter if your company is dead. Build for the short-term and build fast while y…

As a tech lead at a midsize company (~300 employees) I have to agree with this. There seems to be a strong tendency among tech teams to always push back on everything that business wants. We need to remember that we’re on the same team.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#205

Post by daxfohl »

abraxas wrote: post #203
itronitron wrote: post #141

I recommend getting clear guidance from your supervisor on what 'tech lead' means to them. A lot of the commenters here think tech lead is a management position however you shouldn't assume that your employer has that same view. It doesn't sound like you are a 'team lead' otherwise your position would be called 'team lead' and not 'tech lead'. Therefore you don't have any real control over what anyone does, you can't…

Yes tech lead in my experience is a BS non title invented to keep the most productive rank and file developers feel like their careers are going somewhere. It's extra responsibility and expectations with no additional empowerment

Exactly. Tech lead is the worst role I've had. It's like make believe manager, you get a bunch of extra supervisory work in addition to your regular work, but no actual authority to do anything about problems, other than stay late make up for the problems yourself.

You get bombarded by everyone outside your org who has a question vaguely related, and by your junior devs for anything they don't want to figure out themselves, and by your manager wanting to know whether we can release this half baked component X to some other team even though it will break production. You get maybe a little extra recognition but it's just not worth the 3x extra work.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#206

Post by falcor84 »

rapfaria wrote: post #123
jrochkind1 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"tech lead" is not considered an individual contributor role? Is it considered a management role? I'm realizing I'm not quite sure what is meant by a "tech lead" role.

I like to think that a tech lead is someone that given infinite time, could deliver the project by himself.

I like to think that given infinite time, any average person could do anything that's physically possible. Alas, given the upcoming universe heat death, this is moot.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#207

Post by rorykoehler »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #196
rorykoehler wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think every organisation has people of different aptitudes, intrinsic motivation and interests. Building a team of superstars is meaningless. It's the management version of "make it better" or "it doesn't work" type feedbacks that don't give any necessary insights to actually do it. Building a team of people technically superior to you? In what way. Does your devops guy need to be an expert in language design? On t…

>I think every organisation has people of different aptitudes, intrinsic motivation and interests. Building a team of superstars is meaningless. It's the management version of "make it better" or "it doesn't work" type feedbacks that don't give any necessary insights to actually do it. Building a team of people technically superior to you? In what way. Does your devops guy need to be an expert in language design? I'm…

Building a team of collaborators with a baseline of technical aptitude and a willingness to learn is what most people should strive for.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#208

Post by azhu »

quixoticaxolotl wrote: post #127
azhu wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one defines gorgeousness as ease of grok, then gorgeousness directly contributes to the wellbeing of users through maximizing the technology's ability to quickly and effectively adapt to their needs as they arise. Agreed that it's a secondary concern to fulfilling the featureset.

I don't think "ease of grok" is the sense the original commentor meant :)

Could definitely be true! I personally have a hard time imagining how code could be pleasing to the eyeballs by any other metric than how easy it is to understand.

IMO a clever one-liner or a hyper optimal routine that takes minutes of staring to decode isn't gorgeous, but you're certainly right that many would disagree with that. IMHO this philosophy runs directly contradictory to the one in which leaders empower those around them.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#209

Post by anonsivalley652 »

There's no magic. Humility, patience, fairness, learn from mistakes and be a good listener. There's nothing you inherently lack that can't be acquired through experience. Don't let titles or status go to your head, because it's all temporary and meaningless anyhow. Perhaps find a mentor, either internally or externally, to help you grow into a respectable leader because the last thing you or any sane person wants to do is evolve into a PHB Lundberg who thinks they're a superior species. A sense of humor, appreciating people's good work and self-deprecation helps too.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#210

Post by crimsonalucard »

rorykoehler wrote: post #207
crimsonalucard wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think every organisation has people of different aptitudes, intrinsic motivation and interests. Building a team of superstars is meaningless. It's the management version of "make it better" or "it doesn't work" type feedbacks that don't give any necessary insights to actually do it. Building a team of people technically superior to you? In what way. Does your devops guy need to be an expert in language design? I'm…

Building a team of collaborators with a baseline of technical aptitude and a willingness to learn is what most people should strive for.

Agreed 100%. I'm talking about above the baseline; the ideal. We are just talking about different aspects of the same thing.

In order to approach the ideal you must have intrinsic knowledge of the baseline as well. Good point.

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