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7 min read

đŸ„Ż Time-Based Goals, Barriers to Flow, Simplifying Decisions, EM Career Paths, Skip Levels, Dodgy Devops, Burnout Deep Dives: TMW #426

Do you use time-based estimates and goals with your team?
🐳
Thanks to Skiller Whale for sponsoring this issue of TMW - micro-workshops for developers on a wide range of technical and leadership topics.

Hello there, it's Monday!

We have two excellent CTO Craft Bytes events coming up in the next few weeks, one in person in Manchester, UK with Tim Benjamin of Softwire talking about leading tech teams with restricted resources, and one online with Ash Gawthorp of Ten10 talking about talent acquisition in the age of AI. Both are unmissable, and free to join, so if you're interested in keeping up with the latest approaches, do join in - details are below.

One of the biggest discussions in the CTO Craft Community last week focused on the use of time-based goals, and the push-back from various teams on their usefulness in modern product engineering. The conversation brought about many different viewpoints and approaches that members had implemented, and some strong opinions on deadlines in general. We'd like to know how TMW readers feel about deadlines and time-based estimates - here's a quick poll (completely anonymous).

That's it, let's get some links going - see you next week!

Andy @ CTO Craft

CTO Craft Events

Here are all the upcoming CTO Craft Con events, along with your exclusive access code for discounted subscriber tickets - see you soon

CTO Craft Bytes: The Lean Tech Leadership Playbook - Maximum Impact with Minimum Resources | CTO Craft
Learn practical strategies for building high-performance engineering teams with Tim Benjamin of Softwire. Discover lean methodologies, MVP redefinition, flow optimisation, outcome-based development, key metrics, and AI’s role in scaling with limited resources.
CTO Craft
CTO Craft Virtual Bytes: Future-proof your IT Talent Acquisition Strategy in the Age of AI | CTO Craft
Join CTO Craft Virtual Bytes on April 30, 2025, for a fireside chat with Ash Gawthorp, Chief Academy Officer at Ten10, as we explore strategies for future-proofing your IT talent acquisition. Learn how to build a workforce ready to embrace AI and bridge the tech skills gap with innovative hiring models and a focus on continuous learning.
CTO Craft

Want to meet other TMW subscribers and CTO Craft Community members in your city? See all upcoming Mixers in cities around the world here.

Reads of the Week

RDEL #86: What barriers prevent engineers from achieving “flow”?
Common barriers that keep engineers from achieving flow are categorized as situational, personal, or interpersonal barriers.
Research-Driven Engineering LeadershipLizzie Matusov
This is why you’re not shipping
Red flags for teams that want to ship fast
Product for EngineersAndy Vandervell

From our Sponsors

Exclusive Skiller Whale Grants for TMW Subscribers

In partnership with Skiller Whale this exclusive initiative provides grants to help CTO Craft community members and TMW subscribers access Skiller Whale’s coaching. There is a total grant funding available of £100K, with individual grants ranging from £2,500 to £15,000. Grants will be awarded depending on the needs of organisations applying.

To discover how investing in learning can help you and your team visit the links below. (Terms apply).

Learn more about the grants

A huge thanks to all our sponsors and partners, who make Tech Manager Weekly and the CTO Craft community possible:

AWS, Albany Partners, Code Climate, Coherence, Damilah, DoIT, Google Cloud, Jellyfish, Plandek, Skiller Whale, Softwire, Sema, Uplevel, Vention, YLD

If you're interested in sponsoring TMW or any of our events, drop us a line at partners@ctocraft.com.

Leadership, Strategy & Business

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts
Simplify complex decisions by separating upsides from downsides, investing in upsides, vetoing with downsides, and using an appropriate decision framework.
A Smart BearJason Cohen
Models, models every where, so let’s have a think
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll have noticed that I tend to write about two topics in particular: Resilience engineering Formal methods I haven’t found many people

Surfing ComplexityLorin Hochstein
Advice for time management as a manager
have accurate expectations of yourself ‱ prioritize ruthlessly ‱ unemploy your future self ‱ a five-step “help, I’m overwhelmed” checklist ‱ carve out focused time
benkuhn.netNick
Beyond Efficiency: Creating Organizations That Respect Human Dignity
I remember the moment I decided management was interesting.
MediumKim Scott

Culture, People & Teams

How to Build the Engineering Manager Career Path
Should you promote from within or hire outsiders? At CTO Craft Con, a presenter offered a framework for making either choice succeed.
The New StackJennifer Riggins
Skip Level Meetings Are About Insight, Not Distrust
How to gain unfiltered perspectives and build trust without undermining your managers
Sudo Make Me a CTOSergio Visinoni
10 Years of Engineering Ladders
On March 26, 2015, I posted a short blog post to the Rent the Runway engineering blog, Sharing Our Engineering Ladder, with a quick intro

MediumCamille Fournier
The Role of Deep Work in High-Performance Teams
Introduction – What is Deep Work? Coined by author Cal Newport, deep work is the ability

DEV CommunityTaskFrame

Technology, Operations & Delivery

In retrospect, DevOps was a bad idea.
We need to talk about DevOps.
Rethinking SoftwareAdam Ard
Don’t ever page me
How we reduced alert fatigue during our busiest booking period
loveholidays techHugo Brook
The 13 software engineering laws
Hyrum’s law, Conway’s law, Zawinski’s law, and 10 others.
Manager.devAnton Zaides
Using GenAI as a learning tool, not a crutch - Stack Overflow
Stack OverflowKatja Skafar

Stress, Wellbeing & Growth

The Burnout Puzzle: The Role of Expectations, Boundaries, and Ego
Burnout is often framed as an organizational failure — long hours, excessive workloads, toxic workplaces. But what if part of the problem

MediumCarin-Isabel Knoop (on Humans in the Digital Era)
The Burnout Puzzle (Piece 2): Who Managers Can Help Us Get Out of The Shame Trap at Work
Burnout is not just overwork — it’s shame, social comparison, and brains forced to operate against their design. This post focuses on how

MediumCarin-Isabel Knoop (on Humans in the Digital Era)
Tackle Burnout Through Mentoring
In today’s relentless world, many professionals are feeling the pressures of constant deadlines, overwhelming responsibilities, and the

MediumProf Maria Kordowicz

That’s it!

If you’d like to be considered for the free CTO Craft Community, fill in your details here, and we’ll be in touch!

https://ctocraft.com/community

Please do remember to share this link if you know of anyone who’d like to receive TMW:

https://techmanagerweekly.com

Have an amazing week!

Andy

Published by:

Andy Skipper