# Scott Burns's Manager Readme

**VP of Engineering at Stratasan**

# What is this about?

This serves as a brief introduction to what I value & believe in as an engineering manager. However,

- It cannot replace getting to know each other through 1:1s, day-to-day chats, etc.
- It may help to build that necessary relationship more quickly.
- I am interested in continually iterating and fine-tuning these beliefs. Constructive feedback is always welcome.
- If you see a discrepancy between this and my behavior, please tell me.
- [engineering.stratasan.com](http://engineering.stratasan.com/)will have more information about how we work together as a team.

# My Job

I believe managers work for their direct reports. I will work for you by:

- Providing context around your work
- Retain and developing the talented individuals on my team

Because I am measured by our team’s ability to deliver valuable software to the business, it is in my best interest to provide necessary context around your work and do whatever I can to help you grow as a human, developer, and employee, in that order.

# Context

Context should help you more easily complete a feature, fix a bug, or deliver a product.

- I have opinions. This does not mean they are correct or you should blindly believe them. Please disprove me so that I can learn with you.
- You have final say on the work you own.  I trust you to gather the necessary information to make the best decision to move the company forward.

# Growth

I want to provide you with slightly-more-challenging work than you feel capable. I strongly believe in the [Growth Mindset](https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/).

- It is fine to not understand a particular task. I can help by providing context.
- It is not OK to believe that you will never be able to understand it.

I am fascinated in how we transition from beginners through competence to becoming an expert. I do not believe in innate talent. Hard work and a willingness to accept that you don’t know everything trounces any particular aptitude.

The ability to learn is a skill that you can choose to improve or let stagnate. Meta, I know.

# Deep Work

The quality of our development work increases with the amount of concentration we give it.

- We work in a relatively open space. Headphones and/or moving to a quiet room is always fine.
- The maintenance of inboxes (email, Slack, social media, etc) is not what you’re paid to do. Attention is a valuable resource.
- Diving into a bug or feature with a teammate is always a valuable exercise. There are always things you can teach each other.

I’ve found a decrease in inboxes correlates with an increase in happiness. YMMV.

# Feedback

Admittedly, I have the most room to grow in this area. Ideally, we will provide each other feedback that is:

- Given with the intent of helping the other person grow.
- Aimed at behavior, not the person. “You are dumb” is not feedback, it is an attack on the person.
- Actionable and explicit as to what improved behavior looks like.
- Given as quickly as possible. Timely feedback provides a tighter loop to reorient behavior.

[Radical Candor](https://www.radicalcandor.com/the-book/) makes a lot of sense. I want to provide feedback in which it is plainly obvious that I both care about you and believe it will help you grow.

# Ownership

I believe deeply in your capabilities to get things done. I want to define success and give you space to find the most pleasing route.

- You can always [rubber-duck debug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging) with me.
- If you’d like, I can provide suggestions. However, the act of exploring particular solutions and pruning the dead ends is a great way to grow as a developer. Extra points for being able to turn a journey into coherent English.
- Mistakes will happen. If they don’t, I will worry that I’m providing boring work that is not pushing you to grow. Earnest mistakes will not be punished; consider them learning opportunities.

# Communication

My calendar is not super full. Blocking a time on it is the best way to get my undivided attention.

- Face-to-face in-person (or in-video) is always the highest bandwidth.
- Consider if others in the future would benefit. If so, post in a public, historical place like GitHub or Google Docs.
- I am sometimes on Slack in the evenings after the kids go to bed. I do not expect you to be. If I message you, I’m likely just garbage-collecting the day. It can always wait. Slack’s ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode is a great feature.

# 1:1s

These meetings are designed to give you a dedicated time and place to ask anything and everything.

- Hopefully we talk about [things you wouldn’t otherwise bring up](https://medium.com/@mrabkin/the-art-of-the-awkward-1-1-f4e1dcbd1c5c) in a group setting. I want our 1:1 to be a safe place; if this isn’t the case please tell my boss.
- We will go through your agenda first and if time permits I will always have some questions. First and foremost these meetings are for you.
- Urgent matters should not wait for a 1:1.

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