Engineer Strategy: Prioritize for Success
- This article is crossposted from IEEE Spectrum's careers newsletter.
- The most productive engineer I worked with at Meta joined the company as a staff engineer.
- Interestingly, what made him so productive was also frequently a source of annoyance for many of his colleagues.productivity comes from prioritization, and that meant he frequently enough said...
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the Power of Prioritization: Why Saying “No” Can Boost your Engineering Productivity
The Observation: A Highly Productive Engineer at Meta
This article is crossposted from IEEE Spectrum‘s careers newsletter. Sign up now to get insider tips, expert advice, and practical strategies, written in partnership with tech career advancement company Taro and delivered to your inbox for free!
The most productive engineer I worked with at Meta joined the company as a staff engineer. This is already a relatively senior position, but he then proceeded to earn two promotions within three years, becoming one of the most senior engineers in the entire company.
Interestingly, what made him so productive was also frequently a source of annoyance for many of his colleagues.productivity comes from prioritization, and that meant he frequently enough said no to ideas and opportunities that he didn’t think were crucial.
He frequently rejected projects that didn’t align with his priorities. He was laser-focused every day on the top project that the association needed to deliver. he would skip status meetings, tech debt initiatives, and team bonding events. When he was in focus mode, he was tough to get in touch with.
Compared to his relentless focus,I realized that most of what I spent my time on didn’t actually matter. I thoght that having a to-do list of 10 items meant I was being productive. He ended up accomplishing a lot more then me with a list of two items, even if that meant he may have occasionally been a painful collaborator.
The Core Principle: Work on the Right Things
The biggest productivity “hack” is to simply work on the right things.
Figure out what’s important and strip away everything else from your day so that you can make methodical progress on that. In many workplaces, this is surprisingly difficult, and you’ll find your calendar filled with team lunches, maintenance requests, and leadership reviews.
Do an audit of your day and examine how you spend your time. As an engineer, if the majority of your day is spent in emails and coordinating across teams, you’re clearly not being utilized effectively.
Why Prioritization is Difficult in Engineering
Several factors contribute to the difficulty of prioritization for engineers:
- Company Culture: Some companies reward being “busy” rather than being effective.
- Team Dynamics: Saying “no” can be perceived as uncooperative.
- Fear of Missing Out (FOMO): Engineers