Question for engineering leaders:
When's the last time you were genuinely surprised by how your team reacted to an announcement?
What happened?
(I'm collecting stories for a piece on the gap between intent and impact in leadership communication)
When's the last time you were genuinely surprised by how your team reacted to an announcement?
What happened?
(I'm collecting stories for a piece on the gap between intent and impact in leadership communication)
That said, the framing landed very poorly with many developers. Some had parents who worked on assembly lines and were pushed to go to college specifically so they would not have factory jobs. For them, the “software factory” metaphor felt dismissive and demoralizing. Morale took a hit, and we eventually saw a noticeable wave of resignations. Some engineers felt that the challenges of software engineering weren’t appreciated my management, and that they saw us a cogs on a line. There were factory jokes made for weeks and months following the all team meeting where this concept was first presented. It was a mess.
This experience was a good lesson for me in how much messaging and metaphors matter. Even when the underlying idea is reasonable, the framing can completely change how it is received. Big, high-stakes messages are worth testing with a small, trusted group first.