Dan DiGangi - Software Engineering Manager, Tech Instructor/Mentor
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Engineering Manager Learning Resources

Authors

Working in engineering leadership and management is a different world than being an engineer. Whether you're in it already or looking to transition these resources can be helpful. There's a wealth of knowledge out there and I'm happy to lift up others content. A variety of different content types are listed including some technical resources such as systems design or cloud certifications.

Plenty of these are valuable for roles other than tech too!

This is the first version so it will be less organized and detailed. You can find the source on my website repo but a dedicated repo can be found here. In future updates I'll make specific recommendations and ranking. Maybe a guided plan.

I cannot vouch for the quality of all of these resources. (LAST UPDATED: 1/31/24)

This was inspired by my friend Ryan Burgess's list. I'm sure there will be crossover but I swear it wasn't stolen. 😝 Make sure to follow him on Twitter. Super grateful for all his support.

Resources

Types: Books (75), Articles (89), Videos/Podcasts (34), Coaching/Mentoring/Communities (9), Courses (14), Certifications (9)

Books

  • "4 Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferris
  • "97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts" by Camille Fournier
  • "Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations" by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim
  • "An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management" by Will Larson
  • "Atomic Habits" by James Clear
  • "Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs" by Dr. James Stanier
  • "Becoming a Manager" by Linda A. Hill
  • "Build: Elements of an Effective Software Organization" by Rebecca Murphey & Otto Hilska
  • "Clean Code" by Robert C. Martin
  • "Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation" by Jez Humble and David Farley
  • "Crucial Accountability: Tools for Resolving Violated Expectations, Broken Commitments, and Bad Behavior" by Kerry Patterson
  • "Crucial Conversations" by Joseph Grenny
  • "Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts." by Brene Brown
  • "Debugging" by David J. Agans
  • "Developing the Leader Within You 2.0" by John C. Maxwell
  • "Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most" by Douglas Stone
  • "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink
  • "Elastic Leadership: Growing self-organizing teams" by Roy Osherove
  • "Emotional Intelligence 2.0" by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves
  • "Engineering Management for the Rest of Us" by Sarah Dresner
  • "Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
  • "Find Your Why" by Simon Sinek
  • "First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently" by Marcus Buckingham
  • "FYI - For Your Improvement" by Korn Ferry
  • "Give and Take" by Adam Grant
  • "grokking Simplicity" by Eric Normand
  • "Hacking the System Design Interview: Real Big Tech Interview Questions and In-depth Solutions" by Stanley Chiang
  • "Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things" by Adam Grant
  • "High Output Management" by Andrew S. Grove
  • "How Highly Effective People Speak: How High Performers Use Psychology to Influence With Ease (Speak for Success)" by Peter Andrei
  • "How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrel Huff
  • "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie
  • "Infinite Game" by Simon Sinek
  • "Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love" by Marty Cagan
  • "It's The Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach" by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
  • "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek
  • "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss
  • "No Rules Rules Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention" by Reed Hastings
  • "Originals" by Adam Grant
  • "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain and Kathe Mazur
  • "Radical Candor" by Kim Scott
  • "Refactoring: IMproving the Design of Existing Code" by Martin Fowler
  • "Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time" by Jeff Sutherland
  • "Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track" by Will Larson
  • "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek
  • "Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow" by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie
  • "System Design Interview 1 & 2" by Alex Xu
  • "Team Geek: A Software Developer's Guide to Working Well with Others" by Ben Collins-Sussman, Jennifer, and Janet Wescoat
  • "Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World" by General Stanley McChrystal
  • "Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World" by General Stanley McChrystal
  • "Tech Leadership: The Blueprint for Evolving from Individual Contributor to Tech Leader" by Andrew Swerdlow
  • "Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well" by Douglas Stone and Shella Heen
  • "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: 25th Anniversary: Follow Them and People Will Follow You" by John Maxwell
  • "The 48 Laws of Power" by Robert Greene
  • "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Sean Covey
  • "The Art of Agile Development" by James Shore and Shane Warden
  • "The Art of Saying No" by Damon Zahariades
  • "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu
  • "The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever" by Michael Bungay Stanier
  • "The Culture Code" by Daniel Coyle
  • "The Customer-Driven Playbook" by Travis Lowdermilk & Jessica Rich
  • "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable" by Patrick Lencioni
  • "The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses" by Eric Ries
  • "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David Schwartz
  • "The Making of a Manager" by Julie Zhuo
  • "The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change" by Camille Fournier
  • "The Mythical Man-Month" by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
  • "The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win" by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
  • "The Power of Discipline" by Daniel Walter
  • "The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery" by Dave Thomas and Andy Hunt
  • "The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership" by James C. Hunter
  • "The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change" by Tanya Reilly
  • "Think Again" by Adam Grant
  • "Trust and Inspire" by Stephen M. R. Covey
  • "Turn the Ship Around!" by L. David Marquet
  • "Working with Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman

WARNING: 48 Laws of Power has some great content in it but also things that felt malicious and manipulative. While there is always a side in a sense that leadership is non-malicious manipulation (aka understanding psychology) it really didn't align to my personal values at times.

Articles

Videos/Podcasts

Coaching, Mentoring, and Communities

Most of these offer one or more of these things so they are combined into a single list. I also offer private coaching and mentoring. Shoot me an email or hit me up on Twitter.

Courses

With any paid content (including other resources in this post), make sure to review the ratings, feedback, and price closely before you spend money. There is a lot of low quality content out there and plenty of free great content.

Certifications

This last one isn't something that has ever been asked of me nor do I look for it when hiring but it can add value. Cloud/infrastructure certifications hold more value IMHO since you need to understand systems at many levels to build them effectively with your team.

 

Something missing or low quality in my list? Let me know on Twitter.

 

p.s. Don't let anyone tell you management or engineering is harder. They are different roles with unique and overlapping challenges.


- DD
Tweet @dandigangi