The Manager Who Cried Wolf
If everything's a crisis, so are you
Story Time 🌳
I was waiting in line at the airport when I overheard someone talking about The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
Yes, another Aesop Fable. I spent the next 3h on the plane drafting this edition — true to my fascination with non-traditional ways of teaching engineering management.
Today’s classic: The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
As the story goes, there used to be a shepherd boy who was responsible for a flock of — you guessed it — sheep. Everyday, he would let them out to graze.
His #1 job responsibility: Protect them from the big, bad wolf.
One sunny afternoon, he was sitting out in the field as usual, and out of nowhere, boredom rushed into his soul. It was mind-numbing to watch these sheep graze. So, instead of appreciating the privilege of a serene work-life balance, he decided to play a prank.
Now this wasn’t a harmless prank like when you stick a piece of tape under your coworker’s mouse. This was a you’re eating dinner and I’m going to dump a bucket of mud on you prank. Pure evil.
He decided to cry wolf.
It was the middle of summer and April 1st had come and gone, so the poor unsuspecting villagers came flocking to the field, overflowing with concern for their dear boy and his sheep.
Only to find the boy bent over double with laughter.
The villagers were irritated as they had dropped all their village duties just to come out to this field.
Next day, same thing. Villagers came running with concern, and left grumbling with disdain for the boy.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times? Nah.
The next day started just like any other. Dewey morning turned into hot still afternoon, and the boy lazily yawned while doing a big stretch, ready to take a nice siesta.
All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. His sheep started to get restless. He stood up, and mild concern turned into an all-out panic when his eyes met the yellow eyes of a lone wolf, slowly and hungrily approaching the sheep.
This time, he really did cry wolf. And boy, did he cry.
But who would listen? The villagers carried about their merry way, and the boy helplessly watched as the the wolf had the finest, freshest, fullest meal of its life.
There’s an engineering management lesson here.
If every single thing that lands on your desk is an emergency, and you push your team to stretch their limits week after week, what happens?
You become the manager who cried wolf.
Coming from my background as a young, hungry engineer, I loved to jump into things and thrived off of uncertainty and chaos. But that was just my brain. When I became responsible for the work output of other engineers, I initially started to notice that not everyone thrives under this sort of chaos. Constant escalation, moving priorities, and trying to get everything done yesterday.
It was only by recognizing the burnout that this was causing to both myself and my team that I was able to learn to be more even-keeled. Not surprisingly, this coincided with my discovery of meditation as a practice as well.
So how can you be more calm under seeming disasters?
In most cases, adopting a long-term view will help put the current scenario into perspective, and help keep the priorities straight. At times, this will mean standing up against other stakeholders to protect your team. Remember, your job is not to do as you’re told. Your job is to build and grow a world class engineering team.
An easy framework that I use is: Will this matter in a week? Month? Year?
Here’s an example:
It’s the end of the workday, and one of your engineers has to go home early. They’re unable to sync up their work from that day, and so that work effort lives solely in their computer and isn’t seen by others.
Let’s ask ourselves:
→ Will this matter tomorrow? Yes, probably. It may block someone for half a day or cause a conflict later that week.
→ Will this matter next week? Not very likely.
→ Will this matter next month? Definitely not.
→ Will this matter next year? Will what matter?
This one-time scenario is not important enough to even be remembered beyond a day or two. However, do note that if this is a recurring item, and your team consistently doesn’t sync their work, then you may have a larger issue at hand, the impact of which will be felt months or years down the road.
Takeaway: Be very selective with what you escalate.
Reserve your emergency sirens for emergencies.
Read the original fable here.
Workshop 🧠
You’re leading a team and you’re responsible for getting a new feature completed by the end of the week. Marketing has committed this to thousands of customers and so you’ve been pushing your team hard all week.
Suddenly, your boss calls you in and tells you that they want to include a separate fix into this week’s release. It’s not critical, but it’s annoying.
You look around the windowless office with a heavy sigh because your team is already working above max capacity, and you are starting to see some signs of burnout.
What now?
…
Now, close your eyes and immerse yourself. How would you respond? Reply and let me know.
I’ll share my approach in the next edition.
Last week’s workshopMy approach to the scenario I wrote last week is:
I would talk to the PM and understand why they want to build this new feature, and include them in the discussions about priorities. Call a quick meeting with engineering and PM to understand work needed and timeline impact. Then, I’d weigh the options and make a decision. It’s not engineers vs. the PMs. It’s all of us vs. the problem.
Lateral Links 👀
Don’t be a one-trick engineering manager. Learn from these Lateral Links.
How to help someone use a computer
This guide from circa 1996 is all about how to teach computers to the layperson. It’s a masterclass in empathy: “Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming the computer.“
San Fran metro still uses floppy disks
Think your engineering tools are outdated? Think again. An entire city’s metro rail is run off floppy disks — but is getting an upgrade. In 6 years.
Tickling your tongue for tinnitus relief
Tinnitus is a condition affecting many - exciting to see this solution hit the market. I love seeing tech better lives. A really interesting read that describes the condition and the problem-solving approach.
And that’s the end. Remember to always add value.
—Vigs