Day 23: Building Your Engineering Strategy
Be Better Engineering Leader, a 30 Days Series
This is the fifth week of a series of daily lessons on how to Be a Better Engineering Leader. I recommend spending up to an hour on each lesson to gain insights into Product, Technology, and People—areas critical for every Engineering Manager.
Crafting a robust engineering strategy is essential to transforming from a good leader into a great one. While execution and improvement are important, strategic compounding—designing actions that build upon each other—is what truly drives long-term success.
A well-formulated strategy addresses the real challenges and opportunities your team faces, aligning actions with a clear vision.
What a Strategy Is (and Is Not)
A Strategy Is:
Designed Response: A thoughtful approach to navigating your team's unique challenges.
Problem-Solving Oriented: It goes beyond day-to-day execution to tackle fundamental issues.
Coherent Plan: It includes a clear diagnosis, guiding policy, and coordinated actions.
A Strategy Is Not:
Fluff Words: Avoid using trendy jargon that lacks substance.
A Set of Goals: Goals alone are not a strategy—they need a cohesive action plan.
Vision Without Execution: A dream without actionable steps or resources to achieve it.
A List of Problems: Trying to solve everything dilutes focus and impact.
Crafting Your Strategy: The Framework
Collecting Input:
Gather comprehensive information from your team and stakeholders on:
Bottlenecks & Challenges: Identify obstacles that hinder progress.
Strengths & Opportunities: Determine where your team excels and areas for growth.
Distractions: Pinpoint activities that divert focus from core objectives.
Current Initiatives & KPIs: Assess existing efforts and metrics for alignment.
Strategic Blocks Grouping:
Classify your findings into the following strategic blocks:
Leverage Points: Areas where small changes can have a significant impact.
Proximate Objectives: Clear, actionable goals that provide immediate value.
Weakest Links: Identify and address the most critical limitations first.
Using Advantages: Leverage team strengths and unique opportunities.
Riding the Wave of Change: Adapt to industry shifts and emerging trends.
Build the Strategy Kernel:
Create a Strategy Kernel using the insights gathered:
Diagnosis: Identify the biggest problem to solve in the next 12-18 months.
Guiding Policy: Outline a high-level approach for addressing the diagnosis.
Coherent Actions: Define specific steps aligned with the guiding policy.
Iterate and Refine:
Share your draft strategy with your team and gather feedback.
Adjust based on new insights and evolving challenges. Treat the strategy as a living document that evolves with time and experience.
Action Point
Leverage Your Signals of Information. Refer to the insights you collected on Day 20. Group this data into strategic blocks. Identify key bottlenecks, strengths, opportunities, and distractions that need to be addressed.
Focus just on collecting information. It'll already take much of your time. You will define your strategic kernel later (Day 26).
Extra Resources
Premium Article and Strategy Templates: Access the Engineering Strategy Framework in FigJam for a step-by-step guide.
Blog Post: How to Build Engineering Strategy.
Book Recommendation: Good Strategy / Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt.
By building a strategic framework that is diagnostic, actionable, and coherent, you empower your team to tackle the real challenges ahead. A well-thought-out strategy not only guides your team but also amplifies your impact as a leader.
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For me this article was somewhat valuable.
I see a lot information to process 😅
Thanks for sharing!