An Elegant Puzzle


Book Description

A human-centric guide to solving complex problems in engineering management, from sizing teams to handling technical debt. There’s a saying that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Management is a key part of any organization, yet the discipline is often self-taught and unstructured. Getting to the good solutions for complex management challenges can make the difference between fulfillment and frustration for teams—and, ultimately, between the success and failure of companies. Will Larson’s An Elegant Puzzle focuses on the particular challenges of engineering management—from sizing teams to handling technical debt to performing succession planning—and provides a path to the good solutions. Drawing from his experience at Digg, Uber, and Stripe, Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management for leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes. An Elegant Puzzle balances structured principles and human-centric thinking to help any leader create more effective and rewarding organizations for engineers to thrive in.




Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager


Book Description

Software startups make global headlines every day. As technology companies succeed and grow, so do their engineering departments. In your career, you'll may suddenly get the opportunity to lead teams: to become a manager. But this is often uncharted territory. How can you decide whether this career move is right for you? And if you do, what do you need to learn to succeed? Where do you start? How do you know that you're doing it right? What does "it" even mean? And isn't management a dirty word? This book will share the secrets you need to know to manage engineers successfully. Going from engineer to manager doesn't have to be intimidating. Engineers can be managers, and fantastic ones at that. Cast aside the rhetoric and focus on practical, hands-on techniques and tools. You'll become an effective and supportive team leader that your staff will look up to. Start with your transition to being a manager and see how that compares to being an engineer. Learn how to better organize information, feel productive, and delegate, but not micromanage. Discover how to manage your own boss, hire and fire, do performance and salary reviews, and build a great team. You'll also learn the psychology: how to ship while keeping staff happy, coach and mentor, deal with deadline pressure, handle sensitive information, and navigate workplace politics. Consider your whole department. How can you work with other teams to ensure best practice? How do you help form guilds and committees and communicate effectively? How can you create career tracks for individual contributors and managers? How can you support flexible and remote working? How can you improve diversity in the industry through your own actions? This book will show you how. Great managers can make the world a better place. Join us.




Essentials of Project and Systems Engineering Management


Book Description

The Third Edition of Essentials of Project and Systems Engineering Management enables readers to manage the design, development, and engineering of systems effectively and efficiently. The book both defines and describes the essentials of project and systems engineering management and, moreover, shows the critical relationship and interconnection between project management and systems engineering. The author's comprehensive presentation has proven successful in enabling both engineers and project managers to understand their roles, collaborate, and quickly grasp and apply all the basic principles. Readers familiar with the previous two critically acclaimed editions will find much new material in this latest edition, including: Multiple views of and approaches to architectures The systems engineer and software engineering The acquisition of systems Problems with systems, software, and requirements Group processes and decision making System complexity and integration Throughout the presentation, clear examples help readers understand how concepts have been put into practice in real-world situations. With its unique integration of project management and systems engineering, this book helps both engineers and project managers across a broad range of industries successfully develop and manage a project team that, in turn, builds successful systems. For engineering and management students in such disciplines as technology management, systems engineering, and industrial engineering, the book provides excellent preparation for moving from the classroom to industry.




System Engineering Management


Book Description

A practical, step-by-step guide to total systems management Systems Engineering Management, Fifth Edition is a practical guide to the tools and methodologies used in the field. Using a "total systems management" approach, this book covers everything from initial establishment to system retirement, including design and development, testing, production, operations, maintenance, and support. This new edition has been fully updated to reflect the latest tools and best practices, and includes rich discussion on computer-based modeling and hardware and software systems integration. New case studies illustrate real-world application on both large- and small-scale systems in a variety of industries, and the companion website provides access to bonus case studies and helpful review checklists. The provided instructor's manual eases classroom integration, and updated end-of-chapter questions help reinforce the material. The challenges faced by system engineers are candidly addressed, with full guidance toward the tools they use daily to reduce costs and increase efficiency. System Engineering Management integrates industrial engineering, project management, and leadership skills into a unique emerging field. This book unifies these different skill sets into a single step-by-step approach that produces a well-rounded systems engineering management framework. Learn the total systems lifecycle with real-world applications Explore cutting edge design methods and technology Integrate software and hardware systems for total SEM Learn the critical IT principles that lead to robust systems Successful systems engineering managers must be capable of leading teams to produce systems that are robust, high-quality, supportable, cost effective, and responsive. Skilled, knowledgeable professionals are in demand across engineering fields, but also in industries as diverse as healthcare and communications. Systems Engineering Management, Fifth Edition provides practical, invaluable guidance for a nuanced field.




Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management


Book Description

Decision Making in Systems Engineering and Management is a comprehensive textbook that provides a logical process and analytical techniques for fact-based decision making for the most challenging systems problems. Grounded in systems thinking and based on sound systems engineering principles, the systems decisions process (SDP) leverages multiple objective decision analysis, multiple attribute value theory, and value-focused thinking to define the problem, measure stakeholder value, design creative solutions, explore the decision trade off space in the presence of uncertainty, and structure successful solution implementation. In addition to classical systems engineering problems, this approach has been successfully applied to a wide range of challenges including personnel recruiting, retention, and management; strategic policy analysis; facilities design and management; resource allocation; information assurance; security systems design; and other settings whose structure can be conceptualized as a system.




System Safety Engineering and Management


Book Description

Comprehensive in scope, it describes the process of system safety--from the creation and management of a safety program on a system under development to the analysis that must be performed as this system is designed and produced to assure acceptable risk in its operation. Unique in its coverage, it is the only work on this subject that combines full descriptions of the management and analysis processes and procedures in one handy volume. Designed for both system safety managers and engineers, it incorporates the safety procedures used by the Department of Defense and NASA and explains basic statistical methods and network analysis methods which provide an understanding of the engineering analysis methods that follow.




What Every Engineer Should Know About Risk Engineering and Management


Book Description

"Explains how to assess and handle technical risk, schedule risk, and cost risk efficiently and effectively--enabling engineering professionals to anticipate failures regardless of system complexity--highlighting opportunities to turn failure into success."




Knowledge Engineering and Management


Book Description

The disciplines of knowledge engineering and knowledge management are closely tied. Knowledge engineering deals with the development of information systems in which knowledge and reasoning play pivotal roles. Knowledge management, a newly developed field at the intersection of computer science and management, deals with knowledge as a key resource in modern organizations. Managing knowledge within an organization is inconceivable without the use of advanced information systems; the design and implementation of such systems pose great organization as well as technical challenges.




Staff Engineer


Book Description

At most technology companies, you'll reach Senior Software Engineer, the career level for software engineers, in five to eight years. At that career level, you'll no longer be required to work towards the next pro? motion, and being promoted beyond it is exceptional rather than ex? pected. At that point your career path will branch, and you have to decide between remaining at your current level, continuing down the path of technical excellence to become a Staff Engineer, or switching into engineering management. Of course, the specific titles vary by company, and you can replace "Senior Engineer" and "Staff Engineer" with whatever titles your company prefers.Over the past few years we've seen a flurry of books unlocking the en? gineering management career path, like Camille Fournier's The Man? ager's Path, Julie Zhuo's The Making of a Manager, Lara Hogan's Re? silient Management and my own, An Elegant Puzzle. The manage? ment career isn't an easy one, but increasingly there are maps avail? able for navigating it.On the other hand, the transition into Staff Engineer, and its further evolutions like Principal and Distinguished Engineer, remains chal? lenging and undocumented. What are the skills you need to develop to reach Staff Engineer? Are technical abilities alone sufficient to reach and succeed in that role? How do most folks reach this role? What is your manager's role in helping you along the way? Will you enjoy being a Staff Engineer or you will toil for years to achieve a role that doesn't suit you?"Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track" is a pragmatic look at attaining and operate in these Staff-plus roles.




Engineer Your Own Success


Book Description

Focusing on basic skills and tips for career enhancement, Engineer Your Own Success is a guide to improving efficiency and performance in any engineering field. It imparts valuable organization tips, communication advice, networking tactics, and practical assistance for preparing for the PE exam—every necessary skill for success. Authored by a highly renowned career coach, this book is a battle plan for climbing the rungs of any engineering ladder.