Part I

Foundations

Before you try to be good at this job, you need to understand what the job actually is — and what the first three months will ask of you.

This part sets the frame for everything that follows. Two short chapters:

  1. What Engineering Management Is — the distinction between leading people and managing things, the qualities that make the rest of the book work, and the trap of drifting too far from technical reality.

  2. Your First 90 Days as an EM — what to actually do in weeks 1 through 12, whether you inherited a team or built one, and the mistakes new managers make that are hard to walk back.

If you’re new to the role, read these in order before anything else. If you’re experienced, skim Chapter 1 and spend time on Chapter 2 — the “first 90 days” reset applies every time you change companies.

Table of contents