1. May 9, 2015 Or how I began to think about nonlinear career development Climbing off the Ladder, Before we fall off.

2. 1 Who is this Chris Angove person? Graduated with BS in CS from the University of Michigan Spent 10 years as a C++ Developer Started leading in 2005 (reluctantly) Associate Director of Engineering at Amplify in Brooklyn in 2012 Joined Spotify as a Chapter Lead in 2013 Always been interested in engineering culture and career development

3. 2 Quick Overview of Spotify

4. 3

5. 4 Began with Agile, but process got in the way At beginning process was vital to creating the team As we grow, teams tried to figure out how to remain agile Implement new structure in 2012 Continuously tweaking process

6. 5 Alignment & Autonomy Henrik Kniberg Alignment Do what I say! Autonomy Do whateve r False dichotomy

7. 6 High Alignmen t High Autonomy Build a bridge! Micromanaging organization Indifferent culture Entrepreneurial organization Chaotic culture Authoritative organization Conformist culture Innovative organization Collaborative culture We need to cross the river Figure out how! We need to cross the river Low Alignmen t Low Autonomy Hope someone is working on the river problem… Aligned Autonomy! Henrik Kniberg

8. 7 Not so original, original idea PO Tribe Tribe lead PO Tribe Chapter Tribe lead PO Chapter Guild

9. 8 Reality is Messy! PO Tribe Tribe lead PO Tribe Tribe lead PO Chapter Guild

10. 9 Aligned Autonomy - be autonomous, but don’t suboptimize - Spotify’s mission > Squad’s mission Henrik Kniberg

11. 10 Mutual respect My colleagues are awesome! Ego Henrik Kniberg

12. 11 Walking the usual path The Linear Ladder

13. 12 Intern Junior DeveloperSenior Software EngineerArchitectTeam LeadDirector of EngineeringVP of EngineeringCTO

14. 13 Each rung is clearly tied to role and responsibility The Benefits of the Ladder

15. 14 Path of Career Development is Clear The Benefits of the Ladder

16. 15 Easy to get Resources The Benefits of the Ladder

17. 16 Value added to the company is obvious to all The Benefits of the Ladder

18. 17 Explicit path for respect and being recognized for achievements The Benefits of the Ladder

19. 18 Simplicity sometimes has it’s cost What’s the Danger?

20. 19 Reality is rarely simple, more often it’s messy What’s wrong with the ladder

21. 20 We have usually preferred to keep structure flat, only defining positions based on role not seniority What’s wrong with the ladder

22. 21 The only way to add value is predefined by structure What’s wrong with the ladder

23. 22 May not have the skill set or interest for the next level on the ladder What’s wrong with the ladder

24. 23 No way to try out things, moving down the ladder is difficult What’s wrong with the ladder

25. 24 Creates a factory to eject people due to limited management positions What’s wrong with the ladder

26. 25 May promote people beyond their abilities and thus out of the company What’s wrong with the ladder

27. 26 Ultimately it provides simplicity at the cost of actual career development What’s wrong with the ladder

28. 27 Assumes plateauing at a specific role is bad, but why? What’s wrong with the ladder

29. 28 There has to be a better way! What’s wrong with the ladder Right?!?!

30. 29 An increasingly popular approach Multiple Ladders

31. 30 The Technology Ladder

32. 31 Creates a technology track to reduce skillset/interest mismatches The Technology Ladder

33. 32 Clearly sets up easy ways to recognize accomplishments The Technology Ladder

34. 33 Still very clear routes and roles setup as in linear ladder The Technology Ladder

35. 34 But…. The Technology Ladder

36. 35 Limited as it still sets up explicit roles The Technology Ladder

37. 36 Usually gets muddled (http://bit.ly/1oS7H9l) The Technology Ladder

38. 37 Still assumes that the only way to grow is through more responsibility/control The Technology Ladder

39. 38 Does not answer how to experiment and switch roles The Technology Ladder

40. 39 What we call Add - Ons A non-linear approach

41. 40 A nonlinear model

42. 41 Roles defined by institutional need, not career advancement A nonlinear model

43. 42 Add-ons add both personal as well as business value A nonlinear model

44. 43 Interest and skill-set define which add-on the engineer chooses A nonlinear model

45. 44 It is engineer driven but supported by the company A nonlinear model Manager works with the engineer Trainings, sessions, workshops provided as needed Time off to participate in events approved

46. 45 Driving forces: A nonlinear model

47. 46 Do things; tell people A nonlinear model You’re doing cool stuff that others would benefit from hearing about You’re passionate about something and you’d like to see more of it You’d like recognition for your efforts

48. 47 Try Something New A nonlinear model Work is great but getting a little bored You’d like to try something new, but not stop what you are doing Not sure you want to risk switching roles completely

49. 48 Get out of the Comfort Zone A nonlinear model You’d like to acquire new skills You need to push yourself in a new direction Shake things up to see what latent skills are there

50. 49 Employee chooses add-ons or creates a new one: A nonlinear model Define Goal Define Success Metrics Define Help Needed

51. 50 A Few Examples A nonlinear model Speaker Trainer Coach Mentor Writer Architect Evangelist Road Manager Open Sourcer

52. 51 This is a work in progress A nonlinear model Testing our hypothesis now Initial steps in 2013 were a bit slow But we’re refining, check back with us soon!

53. 52 This is not solved we need to innovate Yes this is a call to action! Email me cangove@spotify.comcangove@spotify.com What are your ideas?

54. 53 Check out spotify.com/jobs or @Spotifyjobs for more information.spotify.com/jobs Want to join the band?