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.

• New and noteworthy news

• A management perspective to consider

• Leadership insights to delve into

• And more…

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Alright, let’s get into it.

Noteworthy Headlines

Economic growth slowed in fourth quarter (WSJ)

Highlights:

• US GDP grew at 1.4% annual rate in 4Q2025

• US economy grew 2.2% in 2025, down from 2.8% growth in 2024

US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s global tariffs (Reuters)

Thoughts:

• The Court ruled 6-3 against the methodology used to impose tariffs

• Expect volatile prices (and potentially lead times) again for construction materials

• New, global rate of 10% was imposed, which increased tariff cost for some countries and lowered it for others, with net change for the US tariff rate about 3.5% lower than before the Supreme Court ruling (NYT).

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Management Perspective

Politics carries a negative connotation, especially in technical circles. Many engineers learn about the irrefutable laws of science and how to apply them to design a more functional, efficient society. Politics gets in the way.

However, at its core, politics is simply this: the navigation of interests, relationships, and influence among people working in a collective environment and/or towards a shared goal.

How well you do that determines how effective and successful you will be in an organization.

And it’s one of the toughest things to learn for a technical professional transitioning into a management role.

Here are four ways to improve your political savvy.

→ Understand the organization's structure and who the various stakeholders are

Know who the key decision-makers are and how information gets routed to them. Different parts of the organization hold different areas of control. Know how responsibilities are divvied up and what drives each part of the enterprise. Understand the pressures each faces.

This can be called situational awareness. Like maneuvering through a city, the better you understand where everything is, how they relate to each other, and the best ways to get from one area to another, the more effectively you can navigate the organizational network.

→ Learn the history

Most organizational dynamics have roots in decisions that predate you. Before you push hard on any significant change, understand why the status quo exists. By taking time to learn the reasons for the way things are the way they are, you will form more credible arguments for change (or maybe realize that it’s you who needs to change).

→ Build and maintain social capital

Social capital is an invisible bond that flows between people and between groups. It enhances cooperation and lowers transactional frictions. And the best time to be building it is early and often. If you have none and need it, good luck. It’s too late at that point.

It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are. If people don’t buy into you, they’re not likely to buy into your ideas. That means both you and your ideas won’t get very far.

→ Frame concerns appropriately for whom you are working with

This is a skill I’ve covered in previous newsletters, and it needs repeating. The most effective managers are those who are translators. They can take a message from one group of people and adapt it in a meaningful way to have the right amount of detail and the proper framing for those they are sharing it with.

Management Insights

Aaron Rodgers (NFL quarterback) on criticism:

“You shouldn’t worry about criticism from someone you would never ask advice from.”

—

Matheus Lima (software engineering manager) on playing politics:

“Ideas don’t speak. People do. And the people who understand how to navigate organizational dynamics, build relationships, and yes, play politics? Their ideas get heard.”

—

Patrick Collison (CEO of Stripe) on company culture:

“You do not want to preserve culture; you want to collectively steer the right evolution of the culture.”

Management Resource

How to be an expert communicator (Model Thinkers)

Effective communication is one of the most important parts of leadership. This article provides insights and practical resources for upping your communication game.

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Get in Touch

Did something strike a chord? Tell me about it.

Or…

• Let me know if you’ve found something worth sharing.

• Let me know what challenges you’re having as a manager.

• Let me know what challenges you see other managers having.

Send me an email at [email protected]

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

Collin

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