The Staff Engineer's Path

But technology is a means to some end.

If you don’t understand how decisions are made in your organization or company, you’ll find yourself unable to anticipate or influence them.

Engineers sometimes dismiss organizational skills as “politics,” but these skills are part of good engineering: considering the humans who are part of the system, being clear about the problem you’re solving, understanding long-term consequences, and making trade-offs about priorities.

Knowing the cultural expectations around sharing is crucial. In a culture that keeps knowledge locked down, you’ll lose your boss’s trust if you reshare something they told you in confidence. In a more open company, you’ll be considered political or untrustworthy if you withhold information or don’t make sure everyone knows what’s going on.

First things first: staff engineering is a leadership role. A staff engineer often has the same seniority as a line manager.

If your organization has published a statement of values or principles, that can help you see what the leaders care most about. But these values are aspirational: the real values of the company are reflected in what actually happens every day.

Good decisions need context. Experienced engineers know that the answer to most technology choices is “it depends.” Knowing the pros and cons of a particular technology isn’t enough—you need to know the local details too. What are you trying to do? How much time, money, and patience do you have? What’s your risk tolerance? What does the business ne

Whenever I interview a job candidate, their first question is often, “What’s the culture like?” I used to struggle to answer; where do you even start? Tomes have been written on organizational culture. Now, though, I think most of the time people are really asking these questions: How much autonomy will I have? Will I feel included? Will it be safe

When the path is undefined and confusing, sometimes you need to get the group to agree on a plan and create the missing map. This map often comes in the form of a technical vision, describing a future state you want to get to, or a technical strategy, outlining how you plan to navigate challenges and achieve specific goals.