My experience with Leadership as a Platform is with a 4.000 people organization, 350 engineering department.
I was Head of Engineering for 7 teams split into two tribes, one of 2 teams, and the other of 5 teams. We were around 40 engineers, and with product, design, ops, and leadership almost 70 people.
So, it already works with around 50-100 people.
I would say, with less than 50 people, you shouldn't be facing the challenges I had. You should have other type of challenges, but as you approach that number, you can start applying some of the concepts I share in the article.
For small startups, like 20 people, I wouldn't do it as I did, because you should have high cohesion and alignment already as you are closer to the team members.
So, I would start considering adopting this as you reach 50-100 people organization. I wouldn't base it on DORA metrics, I think the correlation is low, there are other signals that tell you that you need this, like re-work, a lot of meetings, people complaining lack of alignment, ...
Sadly, it is more the exception than the norm. I hope the post help people to realize that there are alternative approaches and the people that start in new leadership positions adopt a little of this.
Would you apply this structure to small companies (1-2 domains), medium-sized companies (3-5 domains), or large companies (+5 domains)?
Which metric would you consider when starting to apply this change? Company size, number of teams, number of domains, DORA metrics, ...
Thanks for the article.
My experience with Leadership as a Platform is with a 4.000 people organization, 350 engineering department.
I was Head of Engineering for 7 teams split into two tribes, one of 2 teams, and the other of 5 teams. We were around 40 engineers, and with product, design, ops, and leadership almost 70 people.
So, it already works with around 50-100 people.
I would say, with less than 50 people, you shouldn't be facing the challenges I had. You should have other type of challenges, but as you approach that number, you can start applying some of the concepts I share in the article.
For small startups, like 20 people, I wouldn't do it as I did, because you should have high cohesion and alignment already as you are closer to the team members.
So, I would start considering adopting this as you reach 50-100 people organization. I wouldn't base it on DORA metrics, I think the correlation is low, there are other signals that tell you that you need this, like re-work, a lot of meetings, people complaining lack of alignment, ...
I hope I answered your question!
Interesting concept. I have an interest in complex adaptive systems and leadership at all levels, so definitely food for though
As good as this view is, I have given up believing that leadership in tech are actually interested in this approach.
Sadly, it is more the exception than the norm. I hope the post help people to realize that there are alternative approaches and the people that start in new leadership positions adopt a little of this.