6% (kinda)

Objective Discuss the impact of leadership in 2023

The State of World Affairs

2022

2023

2023 but… is it a 2008 thing ?

What 2008 science says

The impact of results: learning to manage

Let's talk layoffs and reorgs ● 2021 ○ Post pandemic growth ○ 2020/2021 YoY growth set an aggressive 2022 growth scenario ○ New investment rounds, last IPOs ○ Bandwagon effect: Hiring Spree (If everyone else was doing it, then it was hard to resist doing so yourself)

Let's talk layoffs and reorgs ● 2022 ○ 21/22 hiring spree is over ○ Companies relied on investment rounds ○ VCs changing management style ○ Pandemic payback: no growth at all ○ War ○ Hyper hiring costs takes its toll on runway ○ Some companies haven't survived ○ Layoffs around 15% to 30%

Let's talk layoffs and reorgs ● 2023 ○ Cost of money ○ CEOs learning to manage to strict results guidelines ○ VCs: aggressive results and conservative risks ○ Runway, burn rate, cac, ltv, rule of 40% ○ Goal setting is not a fair science ○ Bandwagon effect: layoffs, middle management layer goes away ○ "If you had a button to fix XX% of your burn rate would you press it ?"

The impact of Tech Managers

The principle behind payroll cuts "Employers have gotten bad at managing employees and U.S. financial reporting standards are in part to blame. (...) " - Peter Capelli https://hbr.org/2023/01/how-financial-accounting-screws-up-hr

But impact has a mensurable value

Better be smart ● Leadership is not Management ● Impact on the team ● Impact on delivery ● Impact on results ● Relevant where work happens

Middle Manager | Tech Manager Human Proxy Part of the team Large but shallow context Narrow but deep context Care about timelines Cares about why, how then when Self centered Team focused IN MY TIME I USED TO xxx Not the best engineer around

The Burden of a Tech Manager ● A Tech Manager should manage the team ● A Tech Manager has to grow the team ● A Tech Manager is not required to be the best programmer in the team ● A Tech Manager has to collaborate on technical guidance ● A Tech Manager is the hand of HR ● A Tech Manager owns production with the team ● A Tech Manager is a quality gate. ● A Tech Manager does not overstep the team http://bit.ly/theburdenofatechmanager

Company I North star metric: check-ins. Engineering/Product north star metric: check-ins 2020: Pandemic impact, big product pivot 2021: Growth challenges, sales cycle tuning, hard to make decisions but steady market share acquisition 2022: No layoffs, but hiring slow down + aggressive goals. North star is the same

Company II North star metric: reduce costs, improve SLA, increase packages/day capacity Engineering/Product north star metric: 1000 engineers, 200 data scientists, AI based platform. 2020: Pandemic impact, ~50% growth 2021: Ready for IPO, but ends the year with impacting Quality/Operational issues 2022: layoffs, EBTIDA becomes the north star metric.

Tools

Self development ● You build you run (aim for autonomy) ● Consensus is bad ● Conflict Frequency/Deepness model ● Tree decision model ● Extreme Ownership ● Radical Candor

Conflict model: deepness vs frequency Deep and infrequent Deep and frequent Shallow and infrequent Shallow and frequent Deepness Frequency

The Tree Decision Model ● Leaf decisions means you should act on it, no need to report. They are easy to revert and mainly local ● Branch level decisions means make the decision, act on it, communicate. These are decisions that can be reversed, will need effort but you will use stakeholders knowledge about impact and inform them instead of approvals. You control their impact. ● Trunk level decisions means you should make the decision, preferentially create a couple of scenarios and communicate before executing them. These decisions will use brains from stakeholders, people from outside your team or grand area. These are not easily reversed and can impact beyond what you see. ● Root level decisions are to be made jointly, with input of other teams, founders and may impact the whole business. Some of these are made already and you are brought in, not the originator. Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott

Extreme Ownership Cover and Move - The Enemy is outside - If the team fails, everyone fails - Relationships are Key Simple - If people can't understand, they can't execute - Clear communication https://echelonfront.com/what-is-extreme-ownership/ Prioritize and Execute - Detach from the situation - Look around, Make a call Decentralized Command - Everyone leads - Everyone must understand whats and whys

Radical Candor https://radicalcandor.com Ruinous Empathy Radical Candor Manipulative Insincerity Obnoxious Aggression Care Personally Challenge Directly

Links https://layoffs.fyi Bio + Book + Info