Becoming a SDM

“Hi, Luke, who is driving project X over the finish line? That project has some loose ends we need to follow up with other teams!” I was talking to a Sr. SDE on his path to transition to SDM role. “Oh, Bob is driving it.” Luke said. “Bob? He is your top engineer of the team. Isn’t he supposed to lead Project Y that will change our backend architecture?”, I was puzzled. “Yeah, but getting project X done done done quickly needs someone with strong ownership and technical know how, Bob is the best.” Luke said. “Hmm … I understand you want to get project X done quickly. As a lead Sr engineer it is the right way to allocate your best resource to get a thing done as fast as you can. But since you are transitioning to SDM, you want to start thinking like a manager. A manager thinks of projects and human resource in a holistic system view. It is about how to get the system produce the most, rather than how to get a specific project done the fastest way. There are three key factors for a manager to consider: 1. Deliver the right results at the right time to delight the right customers or stakeholders 2. Give team members the right opportunities to grow their careers 3. Optimize results and visibility on project management and people management for the SDM’s own career growth Asking Bob to drive project X might get X done quickly, but you will miss the timing to get momentum on project Y, which is more important in long term. Further, will Bob learn anything by driving project X?” “Not really … Bob has done this type of projects several times” Luke answered. “Then it won’t be considered a career opportunity for Bob. Not every project needs to be career opportunity. We all do boring things to keep the world running. But since you have other team members that can drive X, maybe a little slower, why not give it to them? They can learn something out of project X while Bob can get project Y going…Is there a hard deadline for project X?”, I asked. “No. As long as we get project X done this quarter we are fine. I see what you mean. I will ask Bob to start working on project Y and I will assign Jamie to drive project X. Bob can be Jamie’s mentor if Jamie needs help, how about that?”, stars are shining in Luke’s eyes. “That is a SDM’s mindset!” I applauded. https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/-/9781491973882/ch04.html Manager’s Path is a good book for SDM.