tl;dr

For the impatient.

It’s tempting to skip around, but I’d suggest reading these in order:

• Ground Rules
• Process Overview
• What I Do

But if that’s too much, this summary will do.

Ground Rules

• Context Matters. An idea is only a good idea in a particular context.
• Judgement. I perpetually make tradeoff decisions and my playbook is my sherpa for evaluating those choices.
• Your Mileage May Vary. Everybody’s needs and starting points are different. If I wrote something that seems obvious, it probably is. Sorry to have wasted a bit of your time.

If I summed up my thought process in one question, it would be this:

Given the circumstances, what is the actionable and least painful thing we can do that we could live with?

Every activity and guideline in this playbook helps me figure out an answer.

What I Do

• I use North Stars to remind me what’s important: defer what you can, don’t gamble, double-check your thinking, be organized.
• I do Activities regularly (daily, weekly) and some occasionally, when they fit a need. Examples: starting with goals and ideal solutions, then working backwards on a plan (Strategy Bridge, Nirvana Exercise); common agile practices like IPMs.
• I rely on Principles & Guidelines that help me look at things from just the right angle, so decisions aren’t so hard. Separate requirements from implementation (What vs How), primary concerns from consequential ones (Essential, Incidental, and Noise), and emphasize reuse.
• If I’m starting a new project or effort, I have a recipe of practices.

VPE Cheatsheet

The VP of Engineering is tied in a collaboration with Sales and Product:

• Product: hypothesizes what the user needs
• Sales: learns what the user will buy
• Engineering: delivers what the user actually gets

Engineering is a constraint on the other roles. I’ve worked with amazing, efficient teams and struggling ones. In both cases, the expectations and demands on the engineering organization always exceed what it can deliver.

So I focus on sustainability: of the codebase, plans, work schedule, and sanity of the team. The VPE Cheatsheet is my approach to the job.

And More

• Reference: details about the Activities, Principles & Guidelines
• Directory: favorite books, tools, and services

Please Keep in Mind

• Avoid the temptation of doing process for process’ sake.
• Process should help, not enslave.
• I might be wrong. I am just some random person on the Internet.