How to Leverage a Non-Technical Background in Engineering Leadership | Melissa DePuydt
Plus, one of the worst productivity killers in software, 10 essential books for new engineering managers and navigating through failure
How does a non-traditional background impact your career?
This week Melissa DePuydt, Sr. Director of Engineering at Upstatement, joined us to discuss how her background in journalism has uniquely positioned her to excel in engineering leadership roles. She highlights how thinking like a journalist has enhanced her ability to lead engineering teams effectively, particularly in planning, risk management, and decision-making.
Our conversation covered the importance of preparing for disruptions, conducting pre-mortems to anticipate challenges, and incorporating broad perspectives for effective problem-solving. Melissa also shared insights on continuous learning and adapting by embracing one's unique background and experiences. This episode will resonate with you if you took a non-linear route into tech.
"When I became a product engineer at The Post, I felt like I really had to hide my background. There's definitely imposter syndrome and kind of shame of not having a technical background.
But the longer I'm in engineering leadership roles, the more I'm really grateful for my background as a reporter. Because it allows me to make decisions really quickly and gather information and look across context, in ways that I think a lot of engineering leaders often don't.”
Episode Highlights:
00:20 Why do engineering leaders need to think like journalists?
04:46 Preparing for disruptions as an engineering leader
08:44 How pre-mortems work in practice: an example from the Atlantic
12:47 How to get buy in from other leaders when changing processes
17:59 Eliciting buy-in from team members on pre-mortems
22:15 How do we train engineers to think in a team sport mentality?
26:51 Why is career switching a superpower?
The Download
The Download is engineering leadership content we’re reading, watching, and attending that we think you might find valuable.
1. How to Mitigate Context Switching at All Rungs of the Career Ladder
Context switching is a well-established productivity killer. For developers, preserving focus time is imperative, but it’s a lot harder for managers to block time without interruptions.
If you want to learn more about preserving focus time, you can also check out our past Dev Interrupted episodes with Katie Wilde and Dan Kador.
2. How Can an Engineer 10X Their Value Creation?
Understanding how you deliver value as an engineer is a critical career skill and can take you further than technical prowess alone.
If you want your engineering team to deliver 10X value, you must coach ICs about your customers’ needs, demonstrate how valuable code is throughout its lifecycle, and create healthy working habits like breaking work into small chunks.
details how engineers deliver value in his article on :Modern Practices for Goal Setting in Software Engineering (Sponsor)
How do the best engineering organizations leverage goal-setting to drive predictable software delivery?
LinearB has worked with 3,000+ orgs to effectively track their KPIs and set goals, and will share the best practices they’ve discovered in their next workshop on March 26th & 28th.
You'll learn:
The data that drives effective goal-setting in software development
The strategies elite engineering organizations use when setting their OKRs and KPI goals
Real-life examples of successful companies that use goal setting to drive predictable software delivery
And you'll take home a how-to guide and a reporting slide deck for you to leverage. Register below, and take the next step toward driving better business results with effective goal-setting.
3. 10 Essential Books for New Software Engineering Managers
If you’re transitioning from an IC to a management role, you’re going to want a couple of things:
An experienced mentor
Great podcasts about the transition
Books on engineering leadership
If you’re looking for book recommendations, our friends at LeadDev put together a list of the 10 essential books for new software engineering managers.
4. Navigating Through Failure
“You can’t win them all,” “no one is perfect,” there are many sayings to help us feel better about the inevitability of failure.
Navigating failure gracefully is the mark of a seasoned leader and
’s recent piece in offers insights into how you can turn your next miss into a learning opportunity.Upcoming Events
Modern Practices for Goal Setting in Software Engineering
March 26, 28 | Online
Highlights: Effective goal setting is crucial for driving predictable software delivery. LinearB’s workshop, tailored for engineering leaders, will dive into the data and strategies elite engineering organizations use when setting their OKRs and KPI goals.