Should Engineering Managers Code? It's Not That Simple

Whether engineering managers should code is like asking if a coach should still practice the sport. There’s no simple answer. Success comes from understanding how your work benefits the team.

You need to be realistic. Technology moves fast and effective leadership requires both learning and coding.

When to code and what to code is like playing 4D chess. You need to look ahead and ask where the team needs to be in a year. What can you code today that will make future decisions easier?

Future decisions don’t always mean “let’s try this cool innovative thing.” It can also mean asking “Should we spend time on tech debt?”

It’s not about being in the way of progress. It’s about helping the team focus on what’s most important right now.

Oversharing is not caring

Leaders today face a challenging balance with transparency. Many of us have developed a habit of sharing everything. Not because it adds value but because we’re afraid of leaving someone out.

This creates what I call reverse FOMO. Instead of team members being afraid of missing out, leaders become anxious about not including everyone in every conversation, decision, or update.

There are two problems with this approach:

  1. It overwhelms people with information they don’t need. Not everyone needs to know everything about every project or decision.
  2. It actually makes it harder for people to find the information that is relevant to them.

There’s also a small shift of responsibility happening. When we put everything in the open, we sometimes use it as a shield: “Well, I shared it, so it’s on them if they didn’t read it.” This isn’t leadership - it’s avoiding our responsibility to communicate effectively.

Good transparency isn’t about sharing everything. It’s about sharing the right information with the right people at the right time.

If you are servant leader, then your role is to remove obstacles or create clarity for your team. Sharing everything is not reducing obstacles.

Control and learning

Control always comes at the expense of learning.

When we are learning we must choose uncertainty and be willing to make mistakes.

A child must let go of control and risk falling when learning to walk.

A company needs to loose control to innovate or adapt.

How to spot the difference between Strategy, Plan and Tactic

Remind yourself of this quote

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” - Mike Tyson

Strategy is the high-level decision or goal. Should I fight Mike Tyson?

Plan is the steps to achieve the strategy. How should I fight Mike Tyson?

Tactic refers to on-the-spot actions to deal with the immediate situations. When Mike Tyson hits me in the face, I should sway left.

Managing VS Leading: Understanding Both Roles

There are two key roles a manager plays: managing and leading.

Managing focuses on the practical and operational side of things. Making sure your teams have what they need to make progress. Do they know what to prioritize? Are the bills paid, salaries handled, and vacations taken?

Leading has two parts. First is understanding your team: how they work, what challenges they face, and what you can realistically achieve together. Second is painting a picture of a possible future, especially when the team struggles to see beyond their current challenges.

One Simple Question for Better Notes

When taking notes, add “this is interesting because…” and fill in the blanks.

This simple addition changes your random highlights into personally and relatable pieces of nuggets.

Leaders over processes

The only way to scale your company in a sustainable way is through leaders*.

Processes alone are an easy path that almost never scales without hiccups and endless debate on which path a certain decision should take.

*) with leaders I almost never mean managers. Managers can be leaders but so could also developers, designers, sales, business i.e. anyone.

Ambiguity Creates Process

When there is higher ambiguity, more importance is placed on processes.

Ambiguity in goals, priorities, or vision from leadership often reflects a systemic issue, forcing processes to emerge from the bottom up as a way to compensate for the lack of clear direction.

Good process serves you so you can serve customers. But if you’re not watchful, the process can become the thing. This can happen very easily in large organizations. - Jeff Bezos

Empowering is trust

Empowering people isn’t about making them happy; it’s about trusting them to make better decisions than you.