As I have been onboarding to a new role at a new company, I've found myself excitedly sending out links to my all-time-favorite blog posts, conference talks, and books to my new colleagues in just about every one-on-one. So, I decided it was about time that I listed all of them out in one place.

I did my best to add rough categories to the list, but so many of the most mind-blowing, paragigm-shifting articles/talks/books that have stuck with me over the years defy categorization because they explore the connections between people, process, culture, strategy, and writing code.

Part 1 of this two part series focuses on the more personal, human side of working in tech - navigating your career, particularly as an underrepresented minority (URM) in tech, and being an effective senior/staff+ engineer.

Part 2 focuses more on culture and how work gets done - topics like organizational design, culture, and how to approach the discipline of engineering.

Career growth #

Being Glue, by Tanya Reilly #

This is the article that I share the most, and what inspired me to document this list. Tanya's explanation of "Glue work" that keeps a team operating smoothly and the pitfalls for folks who lean into too much glue work too early was a revelation - one of those moments when someone puts a name to a phenomenon you've seen and experienced for years, but never had a way to articulate or address. If you read only one article from this list, make it this one.

The Difficulty Anchor, by Mekka Okereke #

Mekka's talk and accompanying article was another huge lightbulb moment for me where he describes a phenomenon that many URMs in tech experience - you do good work, you ship complex and difficult projects - but your work is undervalued in comparison to your peers, so you find it difficult to get recognized and promoted. Mekka brilliantly explains why it happens, and provides concrete and useful advice on how to work around the problem via a "difficulty anchor".

What Does Sponsorship Look Like?, by Lara Hogan #

It's honestly difficult to pick just one or two things from Lara, you should really just go and read everything that she's ever written! (we used to joke at Etsy that for every topic "there's a Lara blogpost for that") This article is one that I find myself sharing over and over again when talking about the difference between mentoring (telling someone what to do) vs sponsorship (helping someone do higher-profile/more impactful work), and why URMs in particular need more sponsorship to grow their careers.

Hey Designers, They're Gaslighting You, by Sara Wachter-Boettcher #

This article about how to break free from the trap of feeling like you constantly have to "prove your value" or "demonstrate your impact" came out exactly when I needed it most, and helped me to see how constantly having to fight to prove the value of my work was leading me to burnout and imposter syndrome. It helped me to reframe my situation to remove the blame from myself and helped me to see that I needed to own my expertise and have confidence in my value. While Sara is speaking to UX designers, the lessons are applicable to any role in tech, particularly anyone else who leans towards the platform side of things.

Being an effective senior/staff+ engineer #

Pushing Through Friction, by Dan Na #

I am lucky to have been on a team with Dan at Etsy, and this is my favorite of many excellent and insightful posts/talks he's done. In many ways, the ability to push through organizational friction is the most important skill to develop if you want to grow into a Staff+ role, and Dan's talk is a masterclass in how to do it. I frequently revisit his advice when I find myself struggling to get past inertia and influence change.

Policy Entrepreneurship at the White House: Getting Things Done in Large Organizations, by Thomas Kalil #

Okay, you are probably wondering what this article has to do with being a Staff+ engineer. Well it turns out that public servants also have to operate within the confines of influence without authority, and Thomas even says, "The intellectually honest answer to most questions about politics and policy is either "It depends" or “I'm not sure."" So, we have a lot in common! There is a ton of great advice in this article, and I particularly enjoyed the whiteboard thoughts on page 17, which is how this article originally came across my twitter feed (n.b. skip to page 10 of the PDF to get to the meat).

The Staff Engineer's Path, by Tanya Reilly #

I was incredibly privileged to be an early reader of Tanya's book, so I'll just re-share my review here:

"In The Staff Engineer's Path, Tanya has brought desperately needed clarity to the ambiguous and often misunderstood question of how to be a senior technical leader without direct reports. Every page is chock full of valuable insights and actionable advice for navigating your role, your org, and carving out your career path - all delivered in Tanya's trademark witty, insightful and down-to-earth style. This book is a masterpiece!"

The Manager's Path, by Camille Fournier #

Camille's book demystifies the progression and role of engineering managers. This book was so helpful for me to better understand the role, motivation, goals, and thinking of the managers that I report to and work with every day. Highly recommend even if you are an individual contributor and plan to stay an IC (just like me).

Know How Your Org Works (Or How to Become a More Effective Engineer and Why Success Is Often Elusive at the Highest Echelons, by Cindy Sridharan #

While onboarding to a new company, I have been reading and re-reading these two articles of Cindy's because they are just so full of useful and pragmatic advice for how to determine & navigate the culture of a tech company. The second article, in particular, is so important for understanding how to be successful as a more senior engineer joining a new company. I have definitely struggled with making the transition from "I know a ton about every system at this company" to "I know nothing about any of the systems at this company" and Cindy's advice has been invaluable to figure out how to navigate that transition.

Staff Archetypes, by Will Larson (my favorite excerpt from his book Staff Engineer: Leadership Beyond the Management Track) #

I am super biased since I am a featured interview in Will's book, but IMO this is the canonical resource for understanding all of the different ways to be a "Staff Engineer" - because there are so many! His "archetypes" for the various shapes of senior ICs were another moment where someone described a phenonmenon that instantly re-framed the entire conversation for the better, and made it so much easier to discuss career paths with my mentees and peers.

Bonus: The intersection of technology, systems, and humans #

How Privilege Defines Performance, by Tatiana Mac #

I was incredibly lucky to see this talk live in 2019 and it is just as powerful and important today as it was 5+ years ago. Tatiana's clear breakdown of our hidden and systemic biases and how this negatively impacts what we build for the web will probably make you feel uncomfortable, but it's so important to recognize our privilege and confront it. One of the best conference talks I've ever seen on any subject.

The World Wide Work and You Deserve a Tech Union, by Ethan Marcotte #

Ethan is another writer and speaker who I find it hard to narrow down to just one or two items on my list. However, as a former union member myself, I firmly believe that it would benefit all workers to be a part of a union, so I'm sharing his amazing talk and book on the subject. Ethan, with his characteristic thoughtfulness and incredible ability to tell a powerful story, walks through why yes, even us well-paid tech workers need and deserve to have the protection of a labor union.

Thanks for reading, be sure to check out Part 2! If you have any great articles, talks, or books that changed how you think about software engineering, I'd love to hear from you on Bluesky or Mastodon!