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Engineering Leadership articles

Practical perspectives on Engineering Leadership for founders, technology leaders, and engineering teams.

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Clipboard infographic of the six areas of an engineering process audit: planning, code quality, incidents, decisions, people, and measurement

FeaturedMay 25, 2026

Engineering Process Audit: How to Assess Your Team's Health

An engineering process audit is one of the highest-leverage things a leader can do. Here is a practical framework for running one, plus what good and bad actually look like.

Mikael Danielian

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Infographic of the three stages of scaling an engineering team: 10–30 build the foundation, 30–70 operationalize, 70–100 distributed leadership

March 06, 2026 / Mikael Danielian

How to Scale Your Engineering Team from 10 to 100

Most engineering leaders hit a wall somewhere between 10 and 30 people. Here's what actually works — from team topology to management promotion to staying technical without burning out.

Split infographic contrasting the outward-looking CTO role with the inward-looking VP of Engineering role joined by a handshake

February 28, 2026 / Mikael Danielian

CTO vs VP of Engineering: Two Roles, One Mission, Very Different Jobs

How two complementary leadership roles — one focused on technical vision, the other on engineering execution — work together to scale a technology organization

Four-step path graphic for handling engineer departures: early feedback, clear decision, clean exit, generous compensation

February 07, 2026 / Mikael Danielian

Firing Engineers: A Manager's Guide to Doing It Right

The cleanest way to let an engineer go isn't about being harsh—it's about giving honest feedback early, exiting decisively, and compensating generously so your team's velocity and trust remain intact.

Curve of team efficiency peaking at five to nine members and declining as teams grow larger

November 21, 2024 / Mikael Danielian

Team Size and Efficiency in Software Development: Finding the Perfect Balance

The ideal team size for software development is widely considered to be 5 to 9 members, backed by research and practical experience, as this range is thought to optimize efficiency and effectiveness—let’s explore the reasons behind this.