Hey, it’s Collin. Welcome to Engineering Echelons, a newsletter full of ideas and insights to help engineers excel at management.

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week.

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Alright, let’s get into it.

Highlights:

Highlights:

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Many engineers and managers get promoted because they can fix challenging problems. High-maintenance clients, demanding schedules, and tight budgets are all examples of this.

It starts with you being good at the work. Then you get promoted and you manage people. But you still catch the mistakes, fix the hard problems, and make the call when it gets bumpy.

That feels like leadership and service to the team.

Sometimes it is. Oftentimes, it’s a trap.

Once you’re managing, your value isn’t just the quality of work you touch. It’s the capability you build in others.

By being the hero everyone goes to, you rob them of their own professional development. This has a negative long-term effect on team growth and capabilities.

And you become the bottleneck.

That’s not a strong team. That’s a single point of failure with a management title.

Here’s your action: review your team dynamics. How necessary are you to the day-to-day operations? Do you swoop in to help because it feels good? Who are you developing to take your role?

The easiest first step to removing yourself from being a bottleneck is by not solving your team’s problems. Instead, ask them what they think they should do. Ask additional guiding questions.

Then let them do it. Follow up to reflect on the outcomes. Coach accordingly. And watch them grow.

William McRaven (retired U.S. Navy General) on perseverance:

“Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever present, but those who live in fear of failure, or hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential. Without pushing your limits, without occasionally sliding down the rope headfirst, without daring greatly, you will never know what is truly possible in your life.”

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Nikesh Arora (Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks) on restraint:

“Don’t feel the pressure to say something all the time.”

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Ed Catmull (founder of Pixar) on change:

“Change is going to happen, whether we like it or not. Some people see random, unforeseen events as something to fear. I am not one of those people. To my mind, randomness is not just inevitable; it is part of the beauty of life. Acknowledging it and appreciating it helps us respond constructively when we are surprised. Fear makes people reach for certainty and stability, neither of which guarantee the safety they imply. I take a different approach. Rather than fear randomness, I believe we can make choices to see it for what it is and to let it work for us. The unpredictable is the ground on which creativity occurs.”

As AI agents gain power, some firms are grappling with the question of whether AI agents belong in an organizational structure. And if so, where?

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Looking forward to hearing from you. See you next time.

Collin