The discussion centers on navigating corporate politics, reorgs, and career advancement, with Ethan Evans, former Amazon VP, sharing insights. Evans details the prevalence of "empire building," where managers prioritize headcount over impact due to easily measurable metrics, and tactics used to manage people out, such as assigning undesirable roles. He stresses the importance of interpersonal skills, building trust, and framing requests to align with a manager's priorities. The conversation explores strategies for engineers to gain influence, protect their orgs, and negotiate promotions, emphasizing the need to understand and address others' motivations while avoiding a purely self-serving approach. He also advises against mutinying alone and highlights the importance of finding a leader who shares a disdain for politics.
Sign in to continue reading, translating and more.
Continue
