Introducing Staff+ Engineering — Influencing Without Authority
I’ve been writing intermittently about effective Staff+ Engineering for the past 18 months. I keep threatening to turn these ideas into something, either a book or a stream of articles, but never quite managed it. This is the start of making a commitment to seeing this idea through!
I’m going to be publishing drafts of chapters and ideas on Medium for the next 6 months while I create and refine the ideas that will, hopefully, end up in published form. I’m also going to be documenting the process of writing the book, as it’s something that I’ve found fascinating but somewhat under documented by other non-fiction authors in the technology space.
What’s the content going to be? I’ve tentatively outlines four parts to the project:
- The need for Staff+ Engineering roles
- The different aspects of Staff+ roles
- Operating at Staff+
- Ongoing career development
How often will content be published?
“I only write when inspired. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at 9 o’clock”.
Progress requires consistency. While I’m uncertain if I can commit to writing 2000 words a day, by committing to publishing at least one article a week I’ll hopefully be able to progress through the various topics of the book at a reasonable pace. The aim is to have most areas covered in some form by the time we hit Summer 2023.
Why bother?
It’s a question I keep asking myself, especially in light of some brilliant writing from people like Will Larson and Tanya Reilly on broadly the same topic. I think more coverage is a good thing. From what I’ve seen, experienced and heard from others, this aspect of a technology career is far less frequently written about than more traditional management roles. Many people find themselves in a Staff+ position with little to no guidance on what the role really involves as a result.
Follow along
If you’re interested in Staff+ Engineering, writing non-fiction or generally enjoy watching someone learn how to create a book in public, then subscribe to this medium publication! I can’t promise to keep to my weekly schedule (though I’m going to try!) but hopefully, we’ll learn some things along the way and people will derive some value from spending time with this content.
