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Will Larson

What Will Larson thinks about management

@will-larson · 11 positions · 1 change of mind · On ppll ↗

Engineering executive who has led infrastructure and engineering organisations at Stripe, Calm, Carta and Imprint, and previously at Uber and Digg. Author of "An Elegant Puzzle", "Staff Engineer", "The Engineering Executive’s Primer" and "Crafting Engineering Strategy". Writes about organisational design at lethain.com.

Will Larson did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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4 dated positions, 2018, in their own words. Our reading of what Will Larson has said — not written or endorsed by them.

4 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

  1. Our readingAn engineering manager should support six to eight engineers: fewer and they drift into being a tech lead, more and they can only be a coach.

    Their wordsManagers should support 6-8 engineers. This gives them enough time for active coaching, coordinating and furthering their team’s mission by writing strategies, leading change, and so on.

    ↗Sizing engineering teams.lethain.com 1st of 5 in this piece

  3. Our readingNew teams should be budded off an existing team grown deliberately large, never created empty and staffed afterwards.

    Their wordsTo create a new team, grow an existing team to eight to ten, and then bud into two teams of four or five. Never create empty teams.

    ↗Sizing engineering teams.lethain.com 5th of 5 in this piece

  4. 4 weeks earlier

  5. Our readingFixing an understaffed team by moving people off other teams does not work, because people are not fungible and the argument inevitably turns political.

    Their wordsPeople are not fungible, and generally folks end up in useful places, so I’m skeptical of reassigning existing folks to drive optimality.

    ↗Staying on the path to high performing teams.lethain.com 2nd of 6 in this piece

  7. Our readingOrganisational fixes are slow because they have to drain years of accumulated state, and that same slowness is what makes them durable once they take.

    Their wordsThis is because systems accumulate months or years of state, and you have to drain that all away. Conversely, the same properties that make them slow to fix make them extremely durable once in effect!

    ↗Staying on the path to high performing teams.lethain.com 4th of 6 in this piece