An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management
- Downloads：1679
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-10 06:55:43
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Will Larson
- ISBN：1732265186
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
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 of complex management challenges can make the difference between fulfillment and frustration for teams， and， ultimately， the success or failure of companies。
Will Larson's An Elegant Puzzle orients around the particular challenges of engineering management--from sizing teams to technical debt to succession planning--and provides a path to the good solutions。 Drawing from his experience at Digg， Uber， and Stripe， Will Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management that leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes can apply。 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。
Will Larson's An Elegant Puzzle orients around the particular challenges of engineering management--from sizing teams to technical debt to succession planning--and provides a path to the good solutions。 Drawing from his experience at Digg， Uber， and Stripe， Will Larson has developed a thoughtful approach to engineering management that leaders of all levels at companies of all sizes can apply。 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。
Reviews
Adrian Bercovici Simon
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Unique book ， in that it approaches management in tech companies as some kind of systems engineering。Topics include but are not limited to :- management styles ， team sizing ， providing feedback and help to your team， task splitting ， career progression ， feedback ， promotions ， interviewing。The book provides tips and strategies that you can approach in order to becomr sucessful in your organization。
Tim Liu
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The first tech management book I have read。 Reconciling many things。
Vinay Patel
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I found good ideas， tools， and templates which I can build upon when time comes to put them into action。 Hence， reshelving as a reference book。I'd have liked these ideas to be presented with completeness， and along with supporting narration to make it more genuine and stimulating。 I found good ideas， tools， and templates which I can build upon when time comes to put them into action。 Hence， reshelving as a reference book。I'd have liked these ideas to be presented with completeness， and along with supporting narration to make it more genuine and stimulating。 。。。more
Lukasz Nalepa
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Pretty straightforward guide for new people that are coming into the role od Engineering Manager or similar。 Surprisingly， a mix of high and very low level activities to consider， areas to be watchful of， and considerations to be made。 I didn't like it much， as by going into small details sometimes， the author removed the flexibility of this position， focusing on exact definition of the role - and yet， each company， especially outside of Silicon Valley does understand Engineering Management role Pretty straightforward guide for new people that are coming into the role od Engineering Manager or similar。 Surprisingly， a mix of high and very low level activities to consider， areas to be watchful of， and considerations to be made。 I didn't like it much， as by going into small details sometimes， the author removed the flexibility of this position， focusing on exact definition of the role - and yet， each company， especially outside of Silicon Valley does understand Engineering Management roles a bit differently with emphasis on different aspects。 。。。more
Dhwaneet Bhatt
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This book is for experienced managers， for managers just starting out， I would recommend Camille Fournier's "The Manager's Path"。 This book is useful for experienced managers at all levels - Senior， Director and even VP。Will breaks down his book into sections and each section discusses simple practical approaches and systems that have worked for him。 This book draws on experiences of Will from his stints and hyper-growth and steady-growth companies。What I like about the book is the practical app This book is for experienced managers， for managers just starting out， I would recommend Camille Fournier's "The Manager's Path"。 This book is useful for experienced managers at all levels - Senior， Director and even VP。Will breaks down his book into sections and each section discusses simple practical approaches and systems that have worked for him。 This book draws on experiences of Will from his stints and hyper-growth and steady-growth companies。What I like about the book is the practical approach to each of the problems， describing what worked and what didn't。 This book can be thought of as a reference book that every manager can come back to when facing a similar situation in their careers。What I felt missing from this book are some examples that Will could've provided in more detail， some case studies from his experience that could've made the solutions more relatable。 。。。more
Adam Rice
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This was a conflicting read。 It is very much just a summary of a lot of blog posts so there isn't much in the way of implementation details and chapters can jump between topics without cohesion。 Since it's in a blog format， statements are rarely backed up by evidence and most of what appear to be references are just links back to the blog from which the book was written。This isn't to say I didn't take anything away from the book but， unless you're in a very large business， you'll need to scale b This was a conflicting read。 It is very much just a summary of a lot of blog posts so there isn't much in the way of implementation details and chapters can jump between topics without cohesion。 Since it's in a blog format， statements are rarely backed up by evidence and most of what appear to be references are just links back to the blog from which the book was written。This isn't to say I didn't take anything away from the book but， unless you're in a very large business， you'll need to scale back the thoughts or simply ignore sections。 。。。more
Diana Pinchuk
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One of the best books about the。 engineering management and all the aspects of it， starting from organizational design and finishing with hiring。 I really enjoyed its structure and how Will Larson systematically puts his thoughts。 Definitely recommend to every tech person （even if you're not a people manager） this book and the author's blog https://lethain。com/ One of the best books about the。 engineering management and all the aspects of it， starting from organizational design and finishing with hiring。 I really enjoyed its structure and how Will Larson systematically puts his thoughts。 Definitely recommend to every tech person （even if you're not a people manager） this book and the author's blog https://lethain。com/ 。。。more
Alex Bulankou
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Anyone who worked with systems and humans probably came across the problems that the book describes。 This is a collection of essays loosely tied together that helps with the terminology， structured ideas and concisely expressed concepts。
Eric
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I loved everything about this book， even the title。 Amazing resource。
Jose
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Excellent book， This book is what I was hoping it would be。 It has a a guide with generic advice which is pretty good， the part that makes this book worth reading is the interview with Staff Engineers and the list of resources and book recommendations。 Perfect。
Peter Rennert
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Good assortment of advice for hyper growth startups， so it is not necessarily the right advice for any business。 Since the sections are more-or-less blog posts it sometimes does not feel like a consistent book。 On the upside， they tend to be self-contained and short and the typography is beautiful。 The book covers a lot and feel like it would be a good resource to come back to。
Dave
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Pretty good。 Rereading。
Dmitriy Rozhkov
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No BS actionable book on software engineering management。 Although I would appreciate the examples to be more developed in some places， thus 4 stars。
Jayson Virissimo
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Very good and actionable。 I prefer this to others in the space， such as Fournier's The Manager's Path。 I'll likely re-read it sometime this year。 Very good and actionable。 I prefer this to others in the space， such as Fournier's The Manager's Path。 I'll likely re-read it sometime this year。 。。。more
Evan Estola
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Some good content， but clear that it was pulled together from blog posts and the overall narrative doesn't come together in a memorable way。 Some good content， but clear that it was pulled together from blog posts and the overall narrative doesn't come together in a memorable way。 。。。more
Leo
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A collection of essays effectively。 Especially helpful to think about teams and management from the perspective of a director or group manager at a company going through hyper growth。 But also covers some of the fundamentals of management， recruiting， team structures， etc
Charlie Harrington
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Nuggetized， hard-earned wisdom about engineering management from a real-life engineering manager。 I took lots of notes in the back of the book and I think I’ll be sifting through this as a reference manual throughout my career。 The QR code links are a great idea， and only make me wish even more for a true Alan Kay-style Dynabook interactive textbook。
Scott Maclellan
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A strong perspective on the fine art of management。 Having been hooked on Will's talks， blog and newsletter I wanted more。Covers a wide variety of topics directly from the blog。 Want to shape your career？ How should you size teams？ Structure an amazing hiring pipeline！ The writing style is easy to digest and approachable。 Most topics are advice gained over many attempts。There is a strong systems thinking aspect throughout the book。 What is the system being reviewed and how do you systematically A strong perspective on the fine art of management。 Having been hooked on Will's talks， blog and newsletter I wanted more。Covers a wide variety of topics directly from the blog。 Want to shape your career？ How should you size teams？ Structure an amazing hiring pipeline！ The writing style is easy to digest and approachable。 Most topics are advice gained over many attempts。There is a strong systems thinking aspect throughout the book。 What is the system being reviewed and how do you systematically optimize it。 I love it！ This leaves every section feeling like you have been handed the secrets to how everything works。The context can be lost a little。 Looking at his job history there are a few different companies and cultures represented。 Consider how that applies to your world。Would highly recommend。 。。。more
Yannick Grenzinger
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If you are in a management position at a tech company （or want to be）， this is an amazing book which gives many great advices and real world experience in the context of high growth startup。 It's a very interesting book about organizational design， day-to-day tips as a manager， how to manage people or the importance of culture and how to cultivate it from the ground up。 If you are in a management position at a tech company （or want to be）， this is an amazing book which gives many great advices and real world experience in the context of high growth startup。 It's a very interesting book about organizational design， day-to-day tips as a manager， how to manage people or the importance of culture and how to cultivate it from the ground up。 。。。more
Stefan
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Full of concrete advice。 Will serve as a great reference for a career managing software engineers。
Benjamin Romano
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A good overview of the different components that go into an engineering organization。Even as a non-manager， the systematic approach to engineering management outlined was valuable。 It has helped clarify to me the signals to look for in good/bad management and team dynamics。
Alan
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One of the best engineering management books I've read。 The book reads a bit prescriptive， but expressed from a position of experience and with an open mind。 The whole book is introspective， Will constantly looks for feedback and areas for improvement and says so when he's uncertain about the best way to handle delicate situations in management。 Compared to other books in the field， it provides very actionable advice which can be used by anyone at any level of their career， whether an IC， Senior One of the best engineering management books I've read。 The book reads a bit prescriptive， but expressed from a position of experience and with an open mind。 The whole book is introspective， Will constantly looks for feedback and areas for improvement and says so when he's uncertain about the best way to handle delicate situations in management。 Compared to other books in the field， it provides very actionable advice which can be used by anyone at any level of their career， whether an IC， Senior Management， or somewhere in between。 Excited to read his other book Staff Engineer for comparison。 。。。more
Vikram Rao
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Overall， a very solid book about engineering management。 I read it cover to cover， but it could also be used as a reference。 I found chapters 2-4 the most useful， while chapters 5 and 6 seemed a little less novel。
Ernestas Poskus
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One of the best technical software management books read。 Will shares his accumulated experiences about hyper growth， technical migrations to pay tech debt， presenting to senior leadership， visions and strategies， to running efficient teams。 Each chapter is a gold。
Adudczak
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One of the best （if not the best） books in this domain。
Earl Lee
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Thoughtful and tactical guide to management that is applicable across all disciplines but particularly software engineering。 Particularly enjoyed how much of a systems thinking approach Will Larson took to solving organizational and management challenges。
Summa Smiff
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A very useful book about the challenges specific to management in software companies。 Organizationally， a little all over the place， with chapters about managing people， including hiring and career development， as well as working within systems， developing culture， and how to manage oneself。 Still very useful。 I found myself taking a lot away from it， especially around personal time management for managers （delegate as much as possible， that's your job） and what is most important in the role of A very useful book about the challenges specific to management in software companies。 Organizationally， a little all over the place， with chapters about managing people， including hiring and career development， as well as working within systems， developing culture， and how to manage oneself。 Still very useful。 I found myself taking a lot away from it， especially around personal time management for managers （delegate as much as possible， that's your job） and what is most important in the role of manager （communication， communication， communication）。I really enjoyed the appendices， especially "Books I've found very useful" and "Papers I've found very useful" - definitely worth keeping on hand for later。 。。。more
Emanuel Steininger
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The book feels like a good mix between shared industry best-practices and self-made experiences。 Sometimes it's hard to see the difference， which was the main reason why I didn't give it a 5 star rating。 I would for sure recommend the book to engineering team leads， technical leads， engineering managers， and also CTOs and VP。 But I would make sure that their expectations are correct because I was a bit surprised about the ratio between range and depth of some topics in the book。 I personally was The book feels like a good mix between shared industry best-practices and self-made experiences。 Sometimes it's hard to see the difference， which was the main reason why I didn't give it a 5 star rating。 I would for sure recommend the book to engineering team leads， technical leads， engineering managers， and also CTOs and VP。 But I would make sure that their expectations are correct because I was a bit surprised about the ratio between range and depth of some topics in the book。 I personally was hoping to see the author's expertise go in more depth， but if this is clear from the beginning， it gives a very good overview of the wide spectrum of engineering management。 。。。more
Alena
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Book was very helpful to me for understanding the role of engineering manager， and the structure of effective engineering organisation。 Will definitely re-read in the future。
Pablo Margreff
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