The Colorful and Gray World of Engineering Management

Embark with me on my journey through the colorful situations & challenges and the (gray) ambiguity of management in the software industry.

I haven't written a new blog post in a while because my new role has given me new perspective and I...

Date: 05/15/2017

Six months ago, I took on a new role at Microsoft.  I haven't written a blog entry in a while...

Date: 11/29/2016

I recently received a great book as a gift. I'm not one that likes reading fiction. But non-fiction,...

Date: 02/21/2016

When you move into a people manager role, it's usually because you are doing a great job as an...

Date: 01/19/2016

As I continue to apply more engineering rigor to the release process in my team, I hear statements...

Date: 11/19/2015

Satya Nadella's strategy for Microsoft is "Mobile First Cloud First". That's helped keep teams...

Date: 11/08/2015

Whether you are a developer, a tester, or in a combined Software Engineering role, understanding the...

Date: 10/20/2015

The word "over" can mean a lot of positive things.  "Over the rainbow" is where you find your pot of...

Date: 05/28/2015

I always feel like a responsible adult and global citizen when I go camping or hiking and follow the...

Date: 04/27/2015

A sprint team that starts together, ends together. That seems like a fairly simple principle to...

Date: 03/23/2015

All engineering teams are set up differently.  In the Microsoft IT department, we have a set of...

Date: 02/26/2015

A big change is happening in the engineering teams across Microsoft IT. We are combining developers...

Date: 01/29/2015

There's a change spreading across the software engineering landscape. What you thought you knew...

Date: 09/19/2014

Here is how a career as people manager typically plays out. You are an engineer and really good at...

Date: 04/24/2014

The term "perfectionist" is one that most people are familiar with. Either because we are one or we...

Date: 03/02/2014

You can only buy loyalty if you buy a dog; otherwise loyalty has to be earned. One of the best...

Date: 12/09/2013

Recently I took a very interesting training class. As part of that class, we had to sit still in the...

Date: 08/30/2013

But it does take a manager that understands how to leverage strengths. Many managers say they do...

Date: 07/17/2013

Some days I just amaze myself. I can be tired, even exhausted, and not very focused on work. Still I...

Date: 05/13/2013

This message is for the workaholics out there, and not for those of you who barely want to get your...

Date: 03/21/2013

There you are sitting on your death bed. Yep, you had a good life. And although many people have...

Date: 02/28/2013

Today I was recognized on another website that focuses specifically on Engineering Management. I'm...

Date: 01/17/2013

Many engineering teams look at change as a bad thing, something that will disrupt their work. And...

Date: 01/14/2013

One skill all engineers need to have in order to ship high quality software is the ability to ask...

Date: 11/28/2012

My last blog was about how to act as a person with integrity, how to make sure you are thinking in...

Date: 11/12/2012

Ok, I’ll say it because I know others have thought it, but I’m not sure anyone has ever...

Date: 10/25/2012

Do you know the best way to succeed in your career? To stand out in the crowd? To prove your...

Date: 09/23/2012

When it comes to determining someone's intentions, it's fairly easy to do after a few drinks and a...

Date: 08/22/2012

Scream testing is an interesting concept, not so much applied to finding defects, but instead to...

Date: 06/07/2012

Does your team have a vision? If it doesn’t, it should. I heard this saying once that really...

Date: 04/30/2012

What is your routine? We all have one. Mostly these exist because there are actions we do every day...

Date: 04/20/2012

Metrics are very important to the success of an engineering team. They help with data-driven...

Date: 04/03/2012

{EAV:fb71307c644189ca} I was recently asked ‘how do you take a team mostly focused on manual...

Date: 03/08/2012

Are you just dying to get promoted? How about seeing your individual engineering role turn into a...

Date: 02/15/2012

We recently did a realignment on my team due to a change of priority of projects. This was a good...

Date: 02/03/2012

Sometimes as a manager, I not only want to coach people on how to get things done at work, I'd love...

Date: 12/09/2011

Isn't it interesting that for vacations, many people choose to stay in places with little access to...

Date: 11/30/2011

When I think about all the issues my QA team has to deal with to ship projects, I wonder as we get...

Date: 11/10/2011

On October 17th, I celebrate my 17th anniversary at Microsoft. If someone told me on my first day at...

Date: 10/16/2011

You would think that under-functioning teams are bad, functioning teams are just right, and...

Date: 10/05/2011

I've been absent from writing my blog during this summer due to the heat wave in Seattle. Ok, just...

Date: 08/18/2011

Recently, I had the opportunity to be interviewed about what I like about Microsoft (and...

Date: 06/23/2011

Next>