The Outcome-Driven Engineer: Navigating Hiring in an AI World (with James Carr, Director of Engineering at Care.com)

Aug 31, 2023

James Carr, Director of Engineering at Care.com, shares insights on focusing on outcomes instead of outputs, being a technical engineering manager, the importance of outreach in hiring, and building high-performance teams through intentionality.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 3min

Early Mistakes in Leadership

03:10 • 3min

Understanding the Difference Between Output and Outcome in Teamwork

05:53 • 3min

The Balance of Being a Technical Engineering Manager

08:39 • 11min

The Importance of Outreach in Hiring

19:32 • 21min

Building High-Performance Teams and the Importance of Intentionality

40:53 • 2min

👉 Check out the resources mentioned here: https://fellow.app/supermanagers/james-carr-the-outcome-driven-engineer

How often do you approach your daily tasks with clear intention?

There's a prevailing notion in many businesses that prioritize "output" over "outcome". But what if this mindset inadvertently redirects our focus and dilutes our intentionality?

James explains that, “Every action is a vote for who you intend to be.” This philosophy revolves around aligning each action with the desired outcome based on set intentions. Moreover, James sheds light on the significance of acknowledging 'invisible work'—the countless, often overlooked tasks that fill our days.

James Carr is an engineering leader with over 20 years of experience building and running distributed systems, leading high performing teams, and collaborating across functions. He has worked in various positions at CARFAX, Monetate and Zapier, and is currently the Director of Engineering at Care.com.

In episode #164, James shares his advice for using ChatGPT for job applications, being an ideal team player, and what to “lean in” on as an engineering leader.

Tune in to learn more about James’ leadership journey and the invaluable lessons he’s gathered along the way!

. . .

Like this episode? Be sure to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review and share the podcast with your colleagues.

. . .

TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[05:00] Focus on outcome not output

[09:30] What to lean in on as an engineering leader

[16:25] Change work by using intention

[23:28] Quality vs quantity

[26:00] Using ChatGPT for job applications

[31:00] What’s the deal with cover letters

[36:50] What an ideal team player looks like

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Connect with James on LinkedIn

Read Making Work Visible By Dominica DeGrandis

Read The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

Join the Rands Leadership Slack Group

Listen to Michael Lopp’s (Rands’ founder) Supermanagers Episode

Subscribe to the Supermanagers TLDR newsletter