Climbing off the Ladder,
Before we fall off.
Or how I began to think about nonlinear
career development
April 8, 2015
1
Who is this Chris Angove person?
Graduated with BS in CS from the University of Michigan
Spent 10 years as a C++ Developer
Started leading in 2005 (reluctantly)
Associate Director of Engineering at Amplify in Brooklyn in 2012
Joined Spotify as a Chapter Lead in 2013
Always been interested in engineering culture and career development
2
Quick Overview of
Spotify
3
4
Began with Agile, but process got in the way
At beginning process was vital to creating the team
As we grow, teams tried to figure out how to remain agile
Implement new structure in 2012
Continuously tweaking process
5
Alignment & Autonomy
Alignment
Do
what I
say!
Henrik Kniberg
Autonomy
Do
whateve
r
6
We need to
cross the
river
High
Alignmen
t
Low
Alignmen
t
Henrik Kniberg
Aligned Autonomy!
Build a
bridge!
We need to
cross the
river
Authoritative
organization
Innovative
organization
Conformist
culture
Collaborative
culture
Micromanaging
organization
Entrepreneurial
organization
Indifferent
culture
Chaotic
culture
Low
Autonomy
High
Autonomy
Figure out
how!
Hope someone
is working on
the river
problem…
7
Not so original, original idea
Tribe
PO
Tribe lead
PO
PO
Tribe
PO
PO
Tribe lead
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
GuildChapter
PO
PO
PO
8
Reality is Messy!
Tribe
PO
PO
PO
Tribe
PO
PO
Tribe lead
Tribe lead
Chapter
Chapter
Guild
PO
PO
PO
9
Aligned Autonomy
- be autonomous, but don’t suboptimize
- Spotify’s mission > Squad’s mission
Henrik Kniberg
10
Mutual respect
My colleagues are
awesome!
Ego
Henrik Kniberg
11
The Linear Ladder
Walking the usual path
CTO
VP of Engineering
Director of Engineering
Team Lead
Architect
Senior Software Engineer
Junior Developer
Intern
12
13
The Benefits of the Ladder
Each rung is clearly tied to role and responsibility
14
The Benefits of the Ladder
Path of Career Development is Clear
15
The Benefits of the Ladder
Easy to get Resources
16
The Benefits of the Ladder
Value added to the company is obvious to all
The Benefits of the Ladder
Explicit path for respect and being recognized for achievements
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What’s the Danger?
Simplicity sometimes has it’s cost
What’s wrong with the ladder
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Reality is rarely simple, more often it’s messy
What’s wrong with the ladder
We have usually preferred to keep structure flat, only defining positions based
on role not seniority
20
What’s wrong with the ladder
21
The only way to add value is predefined by structure
What’s wrong with the ladder
May not have the skill set or interest for the next level on the ladder
22
What’s wrong with the ladder
No way to try out things, moving down the ladder is difficult
23
What’s wrong with the ladder
Creates a factory to eject people due to limited management positions
24
What’s wrong with the ladder
May promote people beyond their abilities and thus out of the company
25
What’s wrong with the ladder
Ultimately it provides simplicity at the cost of actual career development
26
What’s wrong with the ladder
27
Assumes plateauing at a specific role is bad, but why?
What’s wrong with the ladder
28
There has to be a better way!
Right?!?!
29
Multiple Ladders
An increasingly popular approach
The Technology Ladder
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The Technology Ladder
Creates a technology track to reduce skillset/interest mismatches
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32
The Technology Ladder
Clearly sets up easy ways to recognize accomplishments
33
The Technology Ladder
Still very clear routes and roles setup as in linear ladder
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The Technology Ladder
But….
35
The Technology Ladder
Limited as it still sets up explicit roles
36
The Technology Ladder
Usually gets muddled (http://bit.ly/1oS7H9l)
The Technology Ladder
Still assumes that the only way to grow is through more responsibility/control
37
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The Technology Ladder
Does not answer how to experiment and switch roles
39
A non-linear
approach
What we call Add - Ons
A nonlinear model
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A nonlinear model
Roles defined by institutional need, not career advancement
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A nonlinear model
Add-ons add both personal as well as business value
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A nonlinear model
Interest and skill-set define which add-on the engineer chooses
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A nonlinear model
It is engineer driven but supported by the company
Manager works with the engineer
Trainings, sessions, workshops provided as needed
Time off to participate in events approved
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A nonlinear model
Driving forces:
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A nonlinear model
Do things; tell people
You’re doing cool stuff that others would benefit from hearing about
You’re passionate about something and you’d like to see more of it
You’d like recognition for your efforts
47
A nonlinear model
Try Something New
Work is great but getting a little bored
You’d like to try something new, but not stop what you are doing
Not sure you want to risk switching roles completely
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A nonlinear model
Get out of the Comfort Zone
You’d like to acquire new skills
You need to push yourself in a new direction
Shake things up to see what latent skills are there
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A nonlinear model
Employee chooses add-ons or creates a new one:
Define Goal
Define Success Metrics
Define Help Needed
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A nonlinear model
Speaker
Evangelist
Open Sourcer
Coach
A Few Examples
Architect
Mentor
Trainer
Road Manager
Writer
51
A nonlinear model
This is a work in progress
Testing our hypothesis now
Initial steps in 2013 were a bit slow
But we’re refining, check back with us soon!
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What are your ideas?
This is not solved we need to innovate
Yes this is a call to action!
Email me cangove@spotify.com
53
Want to join the band?
Check out spotify.com/jobs or
@Spotifyjobs for more information.