S4E38 Ahmed Wasfy | Feedback Loops, Systems Over Intentions, & the Power of Predictability

Being an Engineer · 6 Oct 2023 · 47m · Episode 38

What this episode covers

Ahmed Wasfy, a former senior engineer and engineering manager at Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, and current coach at The Thriving Engineering Manager, explains his framework for effective leadership. He details three common pitfalls for new managers: ignoring feedback loops, failing to shift from technical execution to people management, and relying on intentions rather than systems. Wasfy advocates for structured habits, such as tracking happiness scores and using Monte Carlo simulations for project predictability, to mitigate burnout and improve delivery confidence.

Mentioned

Companies
Microsoft, Amazon, Google, AWS
Products
OneNote, Office 365
Also
The Thriving Engineering Manager

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Embedded.fm · 1h 15m

    386: Not Managing Robots

    Ingo Muschenetz, VP of Architecture at Axway, discusses his transition from startups to enterprise management, emphasizing the importance of psychological safety, mentorship, and maintaining a 'shield' for engineering teams. He shares insights on managing remote teams during the pandemic, the challenges of monetizing open-source developer tools, and the value of listening to podcasts for context-switching and inspiration. Muschenetz also reflects on his career path, starting at Harvey Mudd College and founding Zamlon (which became Aptana), and offers advice on finding mentors and avoiding burnout.

  • Embedded.fm · 43m

    21: The Tent Is Flat and Everyone Is Wet

    Rob Mitchell, recently transitioned from systems engineering to management at Lightro, discusses his unconventional career path from technician to manager at companies like LeapFrog, Palm, and Validus. He details the challenges of writing performance reviews for senior engineers and the difficulty of shifting from peer to boss, particularly with former colleagues like Phil King. Mitchell emphasizes the importance of product management, hard deadlines in consumer hardware, and leveraging professional networks over formal degrees for career advancement.

  • Designing in the Wild · 1h 01m

    #009 - Unleashing Creativity Through User-Driven Storytelling - Sam Feller - Human-Centered Engineering, Team Management, Tracking Deliverables, Tactics for Problem Solving

    Sam Feller, a product manager at Tulip Interfaces and former program manager at Amazon, discusses his transition from mechanical engineering to systems management. He explains how shifting teams from technical task lists to user-driven storytelling and deliverable-based tracking simplifies complex engineering problems, such as runtime conflicts, into simpler user interface solutions. Feller also details his approach to managing large hardware teams by focusing on binary deliverables rather than percentage completion, and shares his background with early hardware ventures like Awkward Engineer and solar kiosks.

  • Oxide and Friends · 1h 25m

    Breaking it down with Ian Brown

    Ian Brown, a former Twitter engineering manager, and Theo, a security expert, join Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal to analyze a viral Twitter Space where Elon Musk proposed a total rewrite of Twitter's infrastructure. Brown and the hosts dismantle Musk's claim that the existing stack is 'crazy' by highlighting the 'Ship of Theseus' nature of the code, the value of hard-won engineering decisions, and the fact that Twitter's innovation bottlenecks were organizational, not technical. They contrast Musk's lack of curiosity and fear-based leadership with the necessary conditions for successful software development, using historical examples like Steve Jobs' return to Apple and the ZFS rewrite to illustrate the dangers of 'second system syndrome' and the importance of paying down technical debt through reform rather than revolution.

  • Over the Air · 37m

    Moonshot Engineering Projects: Getting Innovative Initiatives Off the Ground

    Luke Wilhelm, former head of hardware for Uber’s flying car project (Uber Elevate) and current Chief Product Officer at Very, shares advice on leading high-stakes engineering initiatives. He emphasizes building high-quality teams, managing up with honest risk assessments, and the strategic use of saying 'no' to eliminate non-essential features. Wilhelm draws on his experience at Apple, Quantumscape, and Greencharge Networks to discuss the dangers of rationalization and the importance of empathy in leadership.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Being an Engineer. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.