Common Failure Modes for New Engineering Managers

So far, in Part 1 of this book, we have learned what engineering managers do, the different leadership styles that help them in their work, and themes: the set of traits embodied by the best managers. To complete Part 1, this chapter introduces common failures of engineering managers or, in other words, what not to do and why. Each of these touches on one or more topics that we will spend more time on in later chapters of this book.

In addition to knowing what to do, good engineering management entails knowing what not to do. The wrong actions on our part as managers can damage the trust placed in us by our teams. We might learn the hard way through painful failures, but occasionally, we are lucky enough to learn these lessons from the experiences of others. This chapter will prepare you for difficult scenarios that you might face and help you to recognize them before too much damage has been done.

We become engineering managers...