Soft Skills Engineering

The hosts discuss career growth possibilities as an individual contributor and the concept of a distinguished engineer. They explore the path to executive roles in mega tech companies and the importance of asking direct questions about bugs and incidents. They also touch on determining a manager's communication style and the significance of feedback for personal growth.

The podcast discusses various topics including addressing typos in emails and websites, recruiting and training engineers, the phrase 'knock on wood', presenting evidence, and the consequences of quitting a job due to frustration.

The hosts discuss dealing with drowsiness at work and offer short-term solutions like coffee breaks. They talk about falling asleep at work and joke about a website with Latin names for symptoms. They explore how pair programming can prevent sleepiness and discuss the impact of bureaucracy on autonomy.

Topics discussed in this podcast include frustration with immaterial motivation and desire for material recognition, the importance of giving genuine compliments to team members, the role of principal engineers in maintaining code consistency, empowering tech leads and policy enforcement, and the significance of consistency across repositories for developer happiness.

The podcast discusses the importance of hiring junior engineers for fresh perspectives and increased engagement. They also explore the challenges faced by an engineering manager in bringing the team back to the office, including concerns about productivity and work-life balance. The hosts discuss the benefits of in-person collaboration and propose strategies for addressing these concerns with management.

Topics discussed include frustrations of a senior lead SRE, building clout and playing politics in an organization, the nature of convincing groups, prospects for self-taught developers in the tech industry, challenges of entering product marketing, and the importance of messaging and handover to the marketing team.

The podcast discusses attention to detail for software engineers and provides advice on how to improve this skill. They also talk about taking a sabbatical from a software engineering career and the impact it can have on one's life. They explore the advantages of fresh eyes and the importance of writing things down. Lastly, they discuss the challenges of implementing workflow changes and the impact of prioritizing family over work.

The hosts discuss transitioning from engineering manager to software developer and address employer concerns. They also talk about misconceptions about tools and technologies and returning to writing code. The dynamics of engineering management jobs are explored, including competition and challenges in the job market. Finally, pay scales and negotiations for software engineers in staff augmentation companies are discussed.

The podcast discusses the contradiction of a job description that emphasizes leading as a peer but not writing code. They also explore the challenges of communication and non-technical work in a tech company, and provide advice on overcoming skill gaps and anxieties.

Finding mentorship and learning resources for engineering management in a small company. The hosts discuss the challenges of mentorship and offer advice on seeking specific feedback. They explore the importance of finding mentors and peers, self-mentorship, and hiring a coach. The podcast also delves into the listener's experience with 'mob programming' and concerns about constant Zoom collaboration. They discuss different levels of collaboration in the workplace and tools like virtual rooms, extreme programming, pair programming, and mob programming.