The Staff Engineer's Path : A Guide For Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change

This in-depth book shows you ways to master strategic thinking, manage difficult projects, and set the standard for technical work. You'll learn how to be a leader without direct authority, how to plan ahead so that you're making the right technical decisions, and how to make everyone around you better.

For years, companies have rewarded their most effective engineers by suggesting they move to a management position. But treating management as the default (or only) path for an engineer with leadership ability doesn't serve the industry well. The staff engineer path allows you to contribute at a high level, with more free time to drive big projects, determine tech strategy, and raise everyone's skills. With this in-depth book, author Tanya Reilly shows you ways to master strategic thinking, manage difficult projects, and set the standard for technical work. You'll learn how to be a leader without direct authority, how to plan ahead so that you're making the right technical decisions, and how to make everyone around you better, all while still leaving you time to grow as an expert in your domain. In three parts, you'll explore the three pillars of an engineer's job:Big picture thinking: learn how to take a broad, strategic view when thinking about your workProject execution: dive into tactics and explore the practicalities of making projects succeedBeing a positive influence: determine the standards for what "good engineering" means in your organization