In this Substack Week episode, we explore the critical intersection of engineering strategy and business success with Aleix Morgadas, an engineering strategy consultant focusing on sociotechnical aspects of high-stake business challenges. Aleix shares insights from his experience helping organizations align their technical capabilities with business objectives, while offering practical approaches to developing and implementing effective engineering strategies.
The Genesis of Engineering Strategy
Personal experience sparked Aleix's journey into engineering strategy when he joined a large company and found himself grappling with strategic decision-making in engineering. He identified a crucial gap: while strategy was well-established in product and business domains, engineering organizations often lacked strategic frameworks for participating in key decisions. This realization led him to start writing about his struggles and insights, helping others navigate similar challenges through his newsletter.
"I found that engineering was missing a way to be part of the decision making process, and we needed to be clear on the problems and challenges that engineering organizations face."
Breaking Down the Four-Step Process
Drawing inspiration from Richard Rumelt's work on strategy, Aleix presents a comprehensive framework for developing engineering strategy. The process emphasizes the importance of understanding organizational context and identifying shared challenges before taking action.
"Solve the shared pains - that's why we need to uncover those pains in the first place."
The framework consists of four key steps:
Context Understanding: Begin by defining your business context, as strategy must align with your specific environment and circumstances
Problem Identification: Focus on understanding current organizational pains and creating alignment around which problems to solve
Direction Setting: Break down larger goals into manageable increments while ensuring actions don't compete with each other
Strategy Execution: Create space for teams to work on strategic initiatives while maintaining autonomy
The Power of Bottom-Up Strategy
Aleix challenges the traditional top-down approach to strategy development, advocating for a more inclusive process that brings together perspectives from all levels of the organization. This approach recognizes that teams and top-level management often have different visions that need to be reconciled for effective strategy implementation.
"Strategy does not need to be designed top-down. Teams and top-level management have different visions, and we need to be able to bring those together."
Implementation and Execution
Success in engineering strategy requires more than just planning - it demands thoughtful execution and ongoing adaptation. Aleix emphasizes the importance of learning through action and starting with minimal effort initiatives to gain momentum.
"By doing you learn, and doing is critical for strategy. Start with the least effort action you have in mind."
Recommended Resources For Further Study
About Aleix Morgadas
Aleix Morgadas is an engineering strategy consultant specializing in sociotechnical aspects to overcome high-stake business challenges. He regularly shares his knowledge through his blog while leading Teamperature, a SaaS product focused on assessing Team Cognitive Load for healthier teams. He also publishes the Engineering Strategy newsletter on Substack.
You can link with Aleix Morgadas on Substack.
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