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A review by founddrama
Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track by Will Larson
5.0
I think a friend put it best when he described this book as "super clarifying" and that it "gave [him] language to understand" what it meant to be a Staff Engineer (and more so, why he felt "stalled" in a specific previous organization). I would agree with both of those points -- for anyone operating as a senior software engineer and thinking about next steps, this book is like a magnifying glass for the career map and provides the vocabulary, mental models, and strategies you can use in both thinking through that next step and executing on it. What's more, Larson's book seems to be a novel discussion of the topic, and while he makes heavy use of references to outside material (well-known blog posts, books, etc.), his prose points you to those before making his own synthesis.
I approached this book as a kind of teaser or trailer for the next phase of my own career, as I wade through those complex (and emotional) decisions about whether to zig toward Principal/Staff, or zag toward the Management track. (This putting aside any discussion of "the pendulum" for now.) And like my friend, what was foremost in my mind was: "Have I been thinking about this in a sensible way? Do I have the right vocabulary to talk about this? Do I have a sound mental model for what the work at the Staff+ level is going to be?"
SPOILER ALERT: I wasn't too far off, but this got me to where I needed to be on my journey.
Broadly speaking, Larson's book is structured in four parts:
1. An overview of what a Staff+ Engineer is
2. A discussion of the kind of activities/projects taken on by a Staff+ Engineer
3. Strategies for getting the Staff+ title (and whether to do it "in-place" or switch companies)
4. A series of interviews with Staff+ Engineers (how they operate, how they got to where they are, etc.)
The discussion of "what a Staff+ Engineer is" winds up being an excellent place to start, because Larson creates a mental model of the role (in all its diversity) that he can now share with you (the reader!) moving through the rest of the material. It's a level-set for the rest of the material. And in SOME ways, this is your escape hatch: if you get to the end of the section and you're like "Whoa! not for me!" -- then you can end there (guilt-free!) and move on to [b:An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management|45303387|An Elegant Puzzle Systems of Engineering Management|Will Larson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556221385l/45303387._SX50_.jpg|70025565] or [b:Resilient Management|45767533|Resilient Management|Lara Hogan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557845913l/45767533._SY75_.jpg|70573254].
Moving on to the discussion of Staff+ activities/projects ("OK but what does a Staff+ actually do?") presents the kinds of "day-to-day" (in quotes because sometimes these activities have v. long time horizons and get bursty) that one might expect to do in these roles. For me, this section was useful in two ways: FIRST -- the activities described are very concrete, and illustrate a vivid pictures of what "the work" is; SECOND -- with such concrete descriptions, it becomes trivial to map that work onto what I'm doing right now, and to identify where I'm already operating in a similar capacity, where I need to grow, as well as what kinds of things might be energy-draining pitfalls for me were I to take a Staff+ role.
The "how to get the title" section provides more concrete examples -- this time talking through tactics like how to leverage your work into a "Staff project", how to use the notion of a "promotion packet" to your advantage, and how to get the right kind of visibility with leadership to garner support. (A lot of software engineers hate to hear about these kind of company politics but… if you made it this far in the book, you've probably AT LEAST come to accept the necessity of them.) Larson talks first about how to apply those tactics at the company where you already are, given that a Staff+ role is more likely when you have already established the kind of cachet and credibility that it takes to get sponsorship for a role like this. That being said, Larson explicitly acknowledges that your current organization may not be able to support you as a Staff+ (or there are other barriers -- e.g., political ones) and then lays out some tactics for how one might land such a role at another company.
Lastly, Larson includes interviews with 14 Staff+ Engineers from 11 different companies. Like with the section on Staff+ activities/projects, the interviews are useful through the lens of making things concrete, and giving you something "real" to grab onto for comparing your own situation. You get to see the different paths that brought people to their Staff+ roles, the different ways that they apply their leverage, the different kinds of projects, etc. It also gives you a taste of the different ways people might inhabit the role, and the different expectations that might be applied by different organizations. (Also: hats off to Larson who seems to have made a point of getting a diverse group of Staff+ engineers across gender, race, and other identity verticals -- show people it's possible for them!)
Perhaps the most worthwhile aspect of this book is how it coaxes you into asking deeper questions about your career while framing it in those concrete terms. It is somewhat ironic that my first thought upon finishing this book was to seek out Larson's book on engineering management so that I might compare/contrast the different tracks and roles. (I've got some more reading and meditation to do!)
I would definitely recommend this to any senior software engineer who is considering some kind of Staff+ role as their next step. Really think about whether this kind of work would energize you, and whether you believe you could provide the kind of leverage to accelerate the organizations you'd be supporting. And if that gives you some good feels? Maybe try that "promotion packet" exercise next…
I approached this book as a kind of teaser or trailer for the next phase of my own career, as I wade through those complex (and emotional) decisions about whether to zig toward Principal/Staff, or zag toward the Management track. (This putting aside any discussion of "the pendulum" for now.) And like my friend, what was foremost in my mind was: "Have I been thinking about this in a sensible way? Do I have the right vocabulary to talk about this? Do I have a sound mental model for what the work at the Staff+ level is going to be?"
SPOILER ALERT: I wasn't too far off, but this got me to where I needed to be on my journey.
Broadly speaking, Larson's book is structured in four parts:
1. An overview of what a Staff+ Engineer is
2. A discussion of the kind of activities/projects taken on by a Staff+ Engineer
3. Strategies for getting the Staff+ title (and whether to do it "in-place" or switch companies)
4. A series of interviews with Staff+ Engineers (how they operate, how they got to where they are, etc.)
The discussion of "what a Staff+ Engineer is" winds up being an excellent place to start, because Larson creates a mental model of the role (in all its diversity) that he can now share with you (the reader!) moving through the rest of the material. It's a level-set for the rest of the material. And in SOME ways, this is your escape hatch: if you get to the end of the section and you're like "Whoa! not for me!" -- then you can end there (guilt-free!) and move on to [b:An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management|45303387|An Elegant Puzzle Systems of Engineering Management|Will Larson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556221385l/45303387._SX50_.jpg|70025565] or [b:Resilient Management|45767533|Resilient Management|Lara Hogan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1557845913l/45767533._SY75_.jpg|70573254].
Moving on to the discussion of Staff+ activities/projects ("OK but what does a Staff+ actually do?") presents the kinds of "day-to-day" (in quotes because sometimes these activities have v. long time horizons and get bursty) that one might expect to do in these roles. For me, this section was useful in two ways: FIRST -- the activities described are very concrete, and illustrate a vivid pictures of what "the work" is; SECOND -- with such concrete descriptions, it becomes trivial to map that work onto what I'm doing right now, and to identify where I'm already operating in a similar capacity, where I need to grow, as well as what kinds of things might be energy-draining pitfalls for me were I to take a Staff+ role.
The "how to get the title" section provides more concrete examples -- this time talking through tactics like how to leverage your work into a "Staff project", how to use the notion of a "promotion packet" to your advantage, and how to get the right kind of visibility with leadership to garner support. (A lot of software engineers hate to hear about these kind of company politics but… if you made it this far in the book, you've probably AT LEAST come to accept the necessity of them.) Larson talks first about how to apply those tactics at the company where you already are, given that a Staff+ role is more likely when you have already established the kind of cachet and credibility that it takes to get sponsorship for a role like this. That being said, Larson explicitly acknowledges that your current organization may not be able to support you as a Staff+ (or there are other barriers -- e.g., political ones) and then lays out some tactics for how one might land such a role at another company.
Lastly, Larson includes interviews with 14 Staff+ Engineers from 11 different companies. Like with the section on Staff+ activities/projects, the interviews are useful through the lens of making things concrete, and giving you something "real" to grab onto for comparing your own situation. You get to see the different paths that brought people to their Staff+ roles, the different ways that they apply their leverage, the different kinds of projects, etc. It also gives you a taste of the different ways people might inhabit the role, and the different expectations that might be applied by different organizations. (Also: hats off to Larson who seems to have made a point of getting a diverse group of Staff+ engineers across gender, race, and other identity verticals -- show people it's possible for them!)
Perhaps the most worthwhile aspect of this book is how it coaxes you into asking deeper questions about your career while framing it in those concrete terms. It is somewhat ironic that my first thought upon finishing this book was to seek out Larson's book on engineering management so that I might compare/contrast the different tracks and roles. (I've got some more reading and meditation to do!)
I would definitely recommend this to any senior software engineer who is considering some kind of Staff+ role as their next step. Really think about whether this kind of work would energize you, and whether you believe you could provide the kind of leverage to accelerate the organizations you'd be supporting. And if that gives you some good feels? Maybe try that "promotion packet" exercise next…