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Climbing Off The Ladder, Before We Fall Off
The document discusses the evolution of career development at Spotify, highlighting the limitations of traditional linear career ladders. It proposes a nonlinear approach where roles are defined by institutional needs and personal interests, allowing for greater autonomy and flexibility in career paths. The content emphasizes the need for innovation in career advancement methods to better align skills and interests with organizational goals.
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Climbing Off The Ladder, Before We Fall Off
- 1. August 28, 2014 Climbing off the Ladder, Before we fall off. Or how I began to think about nonlinear career development
- 2. Watch the videowith slide synchronization on InfoQ.com! http://www.infoq.com/presentations /spotify-happiness-retention InfoQ.com: News & Community Site • 750,000 unique visitors/month • Published in 4 languages (English, Chinese, Japanese and Brazilian Portuguese) • Post content from our QCon conferences • News 15-20 / week • Articles 3-4 / week • Presentations (videos) 12-15 / week • Interviews 2-3 / week • Books 1 / month
- 3. Presented at QConNew York www.qconnewyork.com Purpose of QCon - to empower software development by facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation Strategy - practitioner-driven conference designed for YOU: influencers of change and innovation in your teams - speakers and topics driving the evolution and innovation - connecting and catalyzing the influencers and innovators Highlights - attended by more than 12,000 delegates since 2007 - held in 9 cities worldwide
- 4. 1 Who isthis 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
- 5. 2 Quick Overviewof Spotify
- 6.
- 7. 4 Began withAgile, 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
- 8. 5 Alignment &Autonomy Henrik Kniberg Alignment Do what I say! Autonomy Do whateve r
- 9. 6 High Alignmen t Aligned Autonomy! High Autonomy Build a bridge! Micromanaging organization Indifferent culture Entrepreneurial organization Chaotic culture Authoritative organization Conformist culture Innovative organization Collaborative culture We need to cross the river Figure out how! We need to cross the river Low Alignmen t Low Autonomy Hope someone is working on the river problem… Henrik Kniberg
- 10. Not so original,original idea 7 Tribe PO PO PO Tribe lead Tribe PO PO PO PO Tribe lead Chapter Chapter PO Chapter Chapter Guild
- 11. Reality is Messy!8 Tribe PO PO PO Tribe lead Tribe PO PO PO PO Tribe lead PO Chapter Chapter Guild
- 12. 9 Aligned Autonomy - be autonomous, but don’t suboptimize - Spotify’s mission > Squad’s mission Henrik Kniberg
- 13. 10 Mutual respect My colleagues are awesome! Ego Henrik Kniberg
- 14. 11 The LinearLadder Walking the usual path
- 15. 12 CTO VPof Engineering Director of Engineering Team Lead Architect Senior Software Engineer Junior Developer Intern
- 16. 13 Each rungis clearly tied to role and responsibility The Benefits of the Ladder
- 17. 14 Path ofCareer Development is Clear The Benefits of the Ladder
- 18. 15 Easy toget Resources The Benefits of the Ladder
- 19. 16 Value addedto the company is obvious to all The Benefits of the Ladder
- 20. 17 The Benefitsof the Ladder Explicit path for respect and being recognized for achievements
- 21. 18 What’s theDanger? Simplicity sometimes has it’s cost
- 22. 19 Reality israrely simple, more often it’s messy What’s wrong with the ladder
- 23. 20 We haveusually preferred to keep structure flat, only defining positions based on role not seniority What’s wrong with the ladder
- 24. 21 The onlyway to add value is predefined by structure What’s wrong with the ladder
- 25. 22 What’s wrongwith the ladder May not have the skill set or interest for the next level on the ladder
- 26. 23 What’s wrongwith the ladder No way to try out things, moving down the ladder is difficult
- 27. 24 What’s wrongwith the ladder Creates a factory to eject people due to limited management positions
- 28. 25 What’s wrongwith the ladder May promote people beyond their abilities and thus out of the company
- 29. 26 What’s wrongwith the ladder Ultimately it provides simplicity at the cost of actual career development
- 30. 27 Assumes plateauingat a specific role is bad, but why? What’s wrong with the ladder
- 31. 28 There hasto be a better way! What’s wrong with the ladder Right?!?!
- 32. 29 Multiple Ladders An increasingly popular approach
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- 34. 31 The TechnologyLadder Creates a technology track to reduce skillset/interest mismatches
- 35. 32 Clearly setsup easy ways to recognize accomplishments The Technology Ladder
- 36. 33 Still veryclear routes and roles setup as in linear ladder The Technology Ladder
- 37. 34 But…. TheTechnology Ladder
- 38. 35 Limited asit still sets up explicit roles The Technology Ladder
- 39. 36 Usually getsmuddled (http://bit.ly/1oS7H9l) The Technology Ladder
- 40. 37 The TechnologyLadder Still assumes that the only way to grow is through more responsibility/control
- 41. 38 Does notanswer how to experiment and switch roles The Technology Ladder
- 42. 39 A non-linear approach What we call Add - Ons
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- 44. 41 Roles definedby institutional need, not career advancement A nonlinear model
- 45. 42 Add-ons addboth personal as well as business value A nonlinear model
- 46. 43 Interest andskill-set define which add-on the engineer chooses A nonlinear model
- 47. 44 It isengineer driven but supported by the company A nonlinear model Manager works with the engineer Trainings, sessions, workshops provided as needed Time off to participate in events approved
- 48. 45 Driving forces: A nonlinear model
- 49. 46 Do things;tell people A nonlinear model 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
- 50. 47 Try SomethingNew A nonlinear model 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
- 51. 48 Get outof the Comfort Zone A nonlinear model 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
- 52. 49 Employee choosesadd-ons or creates a new one: A nonlinear model Define Goal Define Success Metrics Define Help Needed
- 53. 50 Open Sourcer A Few Examples A nonlinear model Speaker Trainer Coach Mentor Architect Writer Evangelist Road Manager
- 54. 51 This isa work in progress A nonlinear model Testing our hypothesis now Initial steps in 2013 were a bit slow But we’re refining, check back with us soon!
- 55. 52 What areyour ideas? This is not solved we need to innovate Yes this is a call to action! Email me cangove@spotify.com
- 56. 53 Want tojoin the band? Check out spotify.com/jobs or @Spotifyjobs for more information.
- 57. Watch the videowith slide synchronization on InfoQ.com! http://www.infoq.com/presentations/spotify-happiness- retention