I've written this to share my thoughts on how we can improve developer productivity and maintain strong leadership, especially as some of our team move to KazanExpress. Given the changes happening now, it's the perfect opportunity to implement new strategies to keep our team cohesive and driven.

<aside> 🚨 This document is a work in progress and serves as a solid draft. While it's currently for internal use, I envision making it public in the future. There's still significant refining to do before our strategic session in Tashkent. Still, I'm sharing it now for preliminary feedback, even if it might contain inconsistencies.

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Abstract

<aside> 🌳 I advocate for building a sustainable engineering culture & strategy that focuses on engineering quality over quantity.

As we expand, our projects and products become more complex. It's not just about technology and tech debt; it's about our team's structure. Adding team members seems like an obvious solution, but it's more nuanced than that. Remember: Nine women can't deliver a baby in a month.

Simply increasing headcount can introduce challenges like delayed handoffs and gaps in expertise. Our focus should be on strategic organizational design: creating clear, autonomous teams that ensure each sector has clear ownership. While platforms and microservices are tools in this endeavor, the essence is having the right framework, domain knowledge, and specialists.

Growth is essential, and hiring is a part of that. However, as we grow, it's not just about adding more staff—it's about ensuring an organized, efficient structure. Smart organizational design is crucial for sustainable growth, even as our team gets bigger.

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• Instead of just hiring more, we'll get the best out of each person and make every dollar count.
• Our budget will prioritize staff uptraining, ensuring everyone can grow and excel in their roles.
• We'll set clear paths with a fair career ladder and regular performance reviews.
• To support this, our managers will receive training, ensuring they can guide their teams effectively.
• Our organizational design will streamline operations, making sure everyone knows their role and purpose.
• We'll also plan ahead, setting clear goals every quarter and year.
• Our engineering strategy will have three parts: diagnosing our current state, setting policies to guide us, and taking actions to move us forward.
• At the heart of all this are our engineering values, which will drive every decision we make.
• I don't believe in building a "team of heroes" given the vast number of software engineers our business will need and the current scarcity of senior engineers in the market. Instead, I support hiring the best available talent, nurturing their growth, and establishing policies and platforms that boost efficiency and impact for everyone, rather than just relying on a few "heroes".
• Our goal is to reach “Generative” culture as defined by Westrum topology.

Notes