On Engineering Leadership and Management

  1. On the core of management: "I came to view management as, at its core, a moral profession. We have the opportunity to create an environment for those around us to be their best, in a fair environment." [1]
  2. On a manager's primary role: "As you grow as a leader, the most important activity you will undertake is being able to say no." [2]
  3. On stabilizing teams: "My organizational philosophy is to stabilize team-by-team and organization-by-organization. Ensuring any given area is well on the path to health before moving my focus." [3]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [3]
  4. On delegating risk: "You do need to delegate some risks, but generally I think it's best to only delegate solvable risk. If something simply isn't likely to go well, I think it's best to hold the bag yourself." [4]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [4]
  5. On handling problems: For every problem that comes your way, you must pick one of three options: close it out, solve it systemically, or delegate it. [5]
  6. On team size: "I've sponsored quite a few teams of one or two people, and each time I've regretted it. To repeat: I have regretted it every single time." [2]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | mstone.dev [2]
  7. On relationships: "I believe that almost every internal problem can be traced back to a missing or poor relationship, and that with great relationships it is possible to come together and solve almost anything." [4]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [4]
  8. On leadership consistency: "Almost anything you do is fine as long as you're consistent about doing it... people that you work with are smart and they'll figure out how to work around it." [6]
    • Source: The Engineering Executive's Playbook: Insights from Will Larson | YouTube [6]
  9. On giving up responsibilities in high-growth environments: "In really fast growing environments like the most valuable thing you can learn to do is like give up responsibilities when you're struggling." [6]
    • Source: The Engineering Executive's Playbook: Insights from Will Larson | YouTube [6]
  10. On treating engineers as peers: It's important to treat engineers as peers and offer them more responsibilities, rather than sheltering them, to enable growth and leadership. [7]
    • Source: Engineering Leadership: A Discussion with Will Larson | SmartJots [7]

On Strategy and Planning

  1. On the first step of planning: "The first phase of a planning cycle is exploring the different problems that you could pick to solve. It's surprisingly common to skip this phase, but that, unsurprisingly, leads to inertia-driven local optimization." [4][8]
  2. On the importance of written strategy: "The first rule of strategy is to write it down. Until it's written down, it's hard to measure decisions against, and it's easy to avoid useful discussions about what needs to be improved." [9]
  3. On innovation and maintenance: "Keep innovation and maintenance together... in exchange you'll get higher morale and a culture of learning, and will avoid creating a two-tiered class system of innovators and maintainers." [3][8]
  4. On policy: "Organizations spending significant time on exceptions are experiencing exception debt. The escape is to stop working the exceptions, and instead work the policy." [4][8]
  5. On finishing projects: "You only get value from projects when they finish: to make progress, above all else, you must ensure that some of your projects finish." [3]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [3]
  6. On scaling systems: "The fact that something stops working at significantly increased scale is a sign that it was designed appropriately to the previous constraints rather than being over-designed." [4][8]
  7. On systems thinking: Systems thinking is a problem-solving approach that considers the overall system, but it's not universally applicable and can lead to conflicts when reality doesn't align with the system. [7]
    • Source: Engineering Leadership: A Discussion with Will Larson | SmartJots [7]
  8. On good strategy: A good strategy includes a solid diagnosis of core challenges, a set of guiding policies for the organization, and coherent actions to execute on those policies. [10]
  9. On problem-solving: "The next time you're about to dive into fixing a complicated one-off situation, consider taking a step back and documenting the problem but not trying to solve it." [8][11]
  10. On organizational risk: "As an organizational leader, you'll always have a portfolio of risk, and you'll always be doing very badly at some things that are important to you. That's not only okay, it's unavoidable." [3][4]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [3][4]

On Staff-Plus Engineering Roles

  1. On the Staff Engineer's role: "Much as the Lorax speaks for the trees in his popular children's book, staff engineers speak for their companies' technology." [12]
    • Source: Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track | sobrief.com [12]
  2. On the transition to Staff Engineer: The transition from Senior to Staff Engineer involves moving into a different set of activities beyond just coding, focusing on strategic guidance and mentorship. [13]
  3. On impact at the Staff level: "I feel most impactful when I can facilitate setting a technical vision for an area and get people moving toward that vision." [12]
    • Source: Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track | sobrief.com [12]
  4. On scaling yourself: To be effective at higher levels, you must scale yourself by growing others, writing more to clarify thoughts, and prioritizing high-impact work. [14]
  5. On avoiding low-impact work: Senior engineers should avoid "snacking," which is the act of doing easy, low-impact work, and "preening," which is engaging in superficial tasks for recognition. [14][15]
  6. On mentorship and sponsorship: Effective staff engineers not only mentor others but also sponsor them by actively advocating for their growth and elevation within the organization. [15]
  7. On being in "the room": It is crucial to be present where key discussions and decisions happen to have influence. [16]
    • Source: Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track | dev.to [16]
  8. Staff Engineer archetypes: Larson identifies four common archetypes for Staff Engineers: the Tech Lead, the Architect, the Solver, and the Right Hand. [12]
    • Source: Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track | sobrief.com [12]
  9. On technical quality: Managing technical quality is essential for long-term success, and improvement strategies should start with lightweight solutions before escalating. [15]
  10. On influence: Staff-level engineers dedicate significant time to advocating for improvements and building consensus before implementation. [13]

On Career and Personal Growth

  1. On career narratives: "Write your own career narrative. There are more paths out there than anyone will tell you about, especially as you get further into your career." [17]
  2. On relationships over jobs: "People, not jobs, last forever... Great relationships will follow you everywhere you go. Bad ones too." [17]
  3. On learning: "Learn what you can learn everywhere you go, but don't stay where you aren't valued." [17]
  4. On writing: "Controlling the sequence in which you present your ideas is the single most important act necessary to clear writing." [8]
  5. On managing energy: "People are complex, and they get energy in complex ways... folks will accomplish more if you let them do some energizing work, even if that work itself isn't very important." [18]
  6. On personal prioritization: A useful framework is "eventual quid pro quo": generally prioritize company and team needs, but if you're getting de-energized, artificially prioritize some energizing work for yourself. [19]
  7. On avoiding burnout: To avoid burnout in content creation and other endeavors, focus on topics that genuinely excite you. [9]
  8. On career decisions: "Decisions aren't permanent. Increasingly I believe that there are very few trapdoor decisions." [17]
  9. On getting unstuck: Some people become so good at their role they get stuck. Often, leaving the company is necessary to find new opportunities. [17]
  10. On personal growth themes: Larson's personal goals revolve around three themes: "Advancing the industry," "Personal growth & practice," and "Endurance for the long-run." [20]

On Metrics and Measurement

  1. On the honesty of metrics: "Trust metrics over intuition... Metrics keep you honest." [4][8]
  2. On measuring productivity: A more effective approach than simple benchmarks is to regularly engage with team members who can provide valuable insights into the team's effectiveness. [7]
    • Source: Engineering Leadership: A Discussion with Will Larson | SmartJots [7]
  3. On communicating metrics upwards: When measuring for executives, focus on informing their mental model about how the work gets done, rather than just providing numbers that fit your own model. [21]
    • Source: A masterclass in engineering leadership | YouTube [21]
  4. On the imperfection of metrics: "No metric is perfect, and that's okay." [9]
  5. On evaluating sprint success: The criteria for a successful sprint include the team knowing what to work on, why it's valuable, when it's done, and what's next, and stakeholders having visibility into this process. [3][8]

On Company Culture and Values

  1. On company values: To be effective, company values should be honest, applicable, and reversible (meaning the opposite could also be a valid value for a different company). [9]
  2. On values mismatch: Sometimes, a conflict isn't about who is right, but a fundamental mismatch in values. It's okay for people to leave if their values don't align with the company's direction. [21]
    • Source: A masterclass in engineering leadership | YouTube [21]
  3. On fairness: "Consistency is a precondition of fairness." [4]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Goodreads [4]
  4. On new leader integration: The biggest mistake new leaders make is assuming the context from their previous company applies directly to the new one. [21]
    • Source: A masterclass in engineering leadership | YouTube [21]
  5. On documentation culture: "The best solution to frequent interruptions I've seen is a culture of documentation, documentation reading, and a documentation search that actually works." [22]
    • Source: An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management | Medium [22]

Learn more:

  1. Saying no. | Irrational Exuberance - Will Larson
  2. Book Review: An Elegant Puzzle - Matt's Blog
  3. An Elegant Puzzle Quotes by Will Larson - Goodreads
  4. Quotes by Will Larson (Narrator of Twenty Years After) - Goodreads
  5. An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering, by Will Larson | Marco Peretti
  6. The Engineering Executive's Playbook: Insights from Will Larson - YouTube
  7. Engineering Leadership: A Discussion with Will Larson - SmartJots
  8. Top 10 Will Larson Quotes (2025 Update) - QuoteFancy
  9. The engineering mindset | Will Larson (Carta, Stripe, Uber, Calm, Digg) - Lenny's Newsletter
  10. Leadership lessons I learnt from Will Larson - Blog for Engineering Managers
  11. Will Larson Quote: “The next time you're about to dive into fixing a complicated one-off situation, consider taking a step back and...” - QuoteFancy
  12. Staff Engineer by Will Larson | Summary, Quotes, FAQ, Audio - SoBrief
  13. PDFPDFPDF Staff Engineer Summary - Will Larson - Shortform
  14. Book Summary: Staff Engineer - Leadership Beyond the Management Track
  15. Book notes: Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track by Will Larson
  16. Growing as a Technical Leader: Lessons from the Book Staff Engineer - DEV Community
  17. Some career advice. | Irrational Exuberance - Will Larson
  18. A quote from Will Larson - Simon Willison's Weblog
  19. Manage your priorities and energy. | Irrational Exuberance - Will Larson
  20. 2022 in review. | Irrational Exuberance - Will Larson
  21. A masterclass in engineering leadership from Carta, Stripe, and Uber | Will Larson (CTO at Carta) - YouTube
  22. BookBookBook An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management — Will Larson - Medium