If we unpack the staff engineer role, there are 3 pillars: big-picture thinking execution of projects, and leveling up the engineers you work with These pillars sit on a solid foundation of technical knowledge and experience. This foundation is critical. Your big-picture perspective includes understanding what’s possible and having good judgement. When executing on projects, your solutions will need to actually solve the problems they set out to solve. When acting as a role model, your review comments should make code and design better, and your opinion need to be well thought out - you need to be right!
Jun 27, 2023
As a staff engineer, you need a broad view. You won’t make good choices about what to work on unless you can step outside your day to day and see where you’re all supposed to be going. These three maps are useful tools for thinking about work and asking yourself questions about where you are, how your organization works, and what you’re all trying to do:
Jun 25, 2023
Ideas for Code Review and Design Review Reviewing code and designs can be an excellent form of teaching. You get to highlight perils your colleague might not know about and suggest safer alternatives. You also get to encourage behaviors you want to see more of. Here are some ideas to bear in mind as you review to teach.
Jun 21, 2023
Guardrails Think of the railing you might find along a cliffside walking path. They are not for leaning on, but they’re there to steady yourself when you need them. A small stumble will not fail you: the rail will stop you from going over the edge. Guardrails encourage autonomy, exploration, and innovation.
Jun 21, 2023
Reasons to stay in the same role or company If your current role is giving most of what you need and taking you where you want to go, it can be rewarding to continue doing the same thing for a long time. Staff engineering benefits from the longevity, domain knowledge, and relationships that you build over time in one place. Here are some other reasons it’s good to spend a long time in one place:
Jun 20, 2023