You might well wonder what “intelligent” software engineering is. The Britannica Dictionary defines the word “intelligent”: as: “having or showing the ability to easily learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations”. Software Engineering is a specialised discipline, and can be done well or badly. So too, leadership. And so too, software engineering leadership. In this talk, Theresa Neate will discuss how to intelligently lead Software Engineering. And also what that synergy and symbiosis with its partners Product and Design looks like: where engineering is adaptive, resilient and above all co-leads mutual success in building products that customers love. https://agileaustralia.com.au/2023/theresa-neate/ https://theresaneate.net

1. Leadership for
Intelligent
Software
Engineering
Theresa Neate
Agile Australia 2023

2. Hello!
I am Theresa Neate
https://theresaneate.net
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https://theresaneate.net

3. Why am I talking about this, today?
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4. What is
intelligent
software
engineering?
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5. “the ability to learn or
understand or to deal
with new or trying
situations”
- Merriam Webster
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6. Software Engineering
Specialised
discipline
So too:
￮ Software
engineering
leadership
Not the execution
arm for Product
Product - WHY
Together - WHAT
Engineering -
HOW
Partnership
Product, Design
and Engineering
are a partnership
An ecosystem
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7. Systems
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8. Systems are
everywhere
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9. Elements of
a system
System
Components
Purpose Relationships
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10. A system
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
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11. Not a system
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12. More systems
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13. More systems
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14. How this
applies to
software
product
development
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15. Components
￮ Engineering
￮ Delivery
￮ Design
￮ Product
￮ (and more)
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16. Purpose
￮ Purpose of the product
￮ Outcomes for customers
￮ Each discipline has a purpose
Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash
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17. Relationships
￮ Begins with understanding the
purposes of our partners
￮ Building a relationship around the
mutual team purpose/s
￮ Building a relationship with each other
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18. The Mini CEO
analogy
“The role I would argue that the
product manager is most
similar to is the role of the
CEO. But with the obvious
difference that unlike the CEO,
nobody reports to the product
manager.”
- Marty Cagan
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19. The Mini CEO
analogy - criticism
“I don’t disagree with the main
criticism of the metaphor, which is
that it may give license to the product
manager to think of themselves and
act like the boss, because I also know
some product managers that
misinterpreted this concept and were
awful people to work with.”
- Marty Cagan
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20. Partnership
between
Engineering
and Product
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21. Delivery teams
AKA Dev Teams
o Developer focused
o Other disciplines usually still in a silo
o Projects not Products
o Agile at Scale or “Transformations”
o Product Owner usually a “backlog
manager”
o “Revenge of the PMO” – Marty Cagan
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
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22. Feature teams
o Usually following Scrum
o Cross-functional
o Focus is on features, not products
o Focus is on output, not outcome
o Quarterly or annual planning
o Roadmaps
o Product Managers might be Project
Managing
Photo by Izzy Park on Unsplash
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23. Empowered
product teams
o Cross-functional
o Focus on outcome
o Willingness to experiment
o Lean principles (e.g. fast feedback)
o Highly innovative
o Product Manager is empowered to
solve the problem for viability
o Design plays an integral role in
usability
o Engineering leadership accountable
for feasibility Photo by Aman Shrivastava on Unsplash
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24. How do I lead
software
engineering?
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25. Realise I am in a
system
o Unique
o First, observe what’s at play
o Assess the complexity
o Don’t copy someone else
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26. Lean
Lean Software Development stems from
Lean Manufacturing
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27. Build relationships
with Product
o Understand and appreciate the
complexity of Product Management
o Have coffee, drinks, meals, brainstorms
o Learn to negotiate a win-win (“Getting
to Yes”)
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28. Lead from the back -
o Observe & ask questions
o Servant leadership is not apathetic
leadership
￮ Autonomy <> “Total Freedom”
￮ Aligned Autonomy
￮ Without alignment, you have anarchy
￮ Model the behaviour you want to see
o “Leadership is language” (D.
Marquette)
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29. - AND lead from the front
o Leadership requires action
o Courage to lean in
o Trust but verify when needed
o “It is in your hands to make of our
world a better one for all.” – Nelson
Mandela
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30. Summary
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31. Lean
”agile”
Reduction of
Waste
Improvement of
morale
Intelligent Software
Engineering Leadership
There is no
blueprint
Only continuous
improvement
Know what good
looks like
Systems
Are EVERYWHERE
Leadership
Is an action
Visionary
Lean in AND out
Partners
Engineering &
Product
Product
Management
Is creative &
innovative
Photo by Candice Picard on Unsplash
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32. Closing
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33. “Do not take life too
seriously. You will
never get out of it
alive.”
—Elbert Hubbard
Photo by Raoul Droog on Unsplash
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34. References & thanks
https://connected.thoughtworks.com/post/product-managers-are-mini-ceos-sort-of/
https://www.svpg.com/the-foundation-of-product/
https://www.svpg.com/product-management-start-here/
https://www.svpg.com/behind-every-great-product/
https://www.svpg.com/product-vs-feature-teams/
https://www.svpg.com/revenge-of-the-pmo/
https://www.pon.harvard.edu/free-videos
https://www.svpg.com/what-is-a-product/
https://www.svpg.com/product-fail/
https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/good-product-managers-great-shreyas-doshi/
Summary of Getting to Yes:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zp4GpDftu5t7Zj1O020tStCea69tXTU3/view?usp=sharing
Summary of Thinking Fast and Slow:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s1s_N2G-u4fo7HYSif_76SrMhm6EIEHX/view?usp=sharing
Images (if not otherwise specified)
https://unsplash.com/
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35. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who
made and released these awesome
resources for free:
￮ Presentation template by
SlidesCarnival
￮ Photographs by Unsplash
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