New Engineering Manager's Compass Book Released

Dunya Kirkali, one of the authors, serves as the Director of iOS at Backbase, bringing a wealth of experience in leading engineering teams. Her co-author, Maxim Schepelin, is an engineering leader at Booking.com with over a decade of experience in diverse sectors including game development, e-commerce, and travel. The book is structured to first help new managers understand their role by analyzing company characteristics and their team's specific context. It then moves into defining a team's direction through alignment and data-driven decision-making. The final section focuses on the hands-on aspects of planning and executing projects in environments where not everything is known. A core concept in the book is "decoding your company's DNA." This involves understanding the unwritten rules and organizational dynamics that shape a manager's role and a team's effectiveness. By identifying these, managers can better navigate their environment and lead their teams to success. The authors initially intended to write a comprehensive handbook but pivoted to focus on the essential, often unstated, knowledge that is critical for a new manager's success. The book is being released iteratively on the Leanpub platform, allowing the authors to gather feedback from readers as they write. It is currently 50% complete.