ELC
+00:00 GMT

The cost of “aspirational mismatches” (and how to avoid them)

with Lisa Dusseault

August 30, 2022
The cost of “aspirational mismatches” (and how to avoid them)
Listen on

ABOUT LISA DUSSEAULT

Lisa Dusseault is the Chief Technology Officer at Compaas. She has built her career solving complex technology problems. After Microsoft, she led internet standards groups at the IETF, and engineering teams at Linden Lab and Stubhub. She founded tech startups Cathy Labs, Klutch, and ShareTheVisit. Lisa holds a B.S. in systems design engineering from University of Waterloo.

"The conversation should have been about when and why this company needed a particular technology choice, not whether a technology choice was good in and of itself."

<cite>- Lisa Dusseault    </cite>


Our in-person conference ELC Annual returns 10/27-28!

Learn from 60+ of the best engineering leaders in the industry / Critical insights on leadership, career and technology / Plus tons of experiences optimized for deep conversations & meaningful connections - all to help you build your support network!

Don't miss out on being part of the biggest celebration of engineering leadership of the year!

Grab your ticket HERE: sfelc.com/annual2022


This episode is brought to you by Jellyfish

For insights into where engineering teams are investing their time and resources, how they’re operating and performing, and the way in which leaders are managing today…

Download “The State of Engineering Management Report 2022” HERE:

jellyfish.co/emr

To understand how your engineering org compares against teams from across the industry and gain data-driven metrics to inform your strategic decisions regarding the right tools, processes and workflows…

Learn More About Jellyfish Benchmarks @ jellyfish.co/benchmarks


SHOW NOTES:

  • Defining aspirational mismatch & its detrimental impact on eng orgs (02:10)
  • What “cargo culting” is & why it’s a decision-making flaw (4:18)
  • How aspirational mismatch manifests in eng orgs (5:48)
  • The importance of tech companies asking the questions “when” & “why” (7:39)
  • Examples of how eng orgs experience aspirational mismatch in their tech choices (9:08)
  • Framework for tying your metrics to your org’s business objectives (12:33)
  • How metrics can inform frontline decisions (14:15)
  • Choose a technology that’s the correct size for your org (16:19)
  • The cost of merging & compounding mismatches (19:28)
  • Lisa’s golden rule regarding “innovation tokens” for tech start-ups (21:07)
  • Why eng orgs need a unified vision to avoid aspirational mismatch in processes (23:52)
  • Using epics to communicate company vision (26:37)
  • Where aspirational mismatches come from & why eng teams experience them (29:10)
  • Recommendations for withstanding aspirational technology pressure (32:11)
  • Additional frameworks for working through mismatches (34:33)
  • How to host conversations around realistically planning for future aspirations (37:02)
  • Rapid fire questions (39:55)
Dive in
Related
18:08
video
Building & Managing a Diverse Team in the Age of Social Distance by Prachi Gupta, Minal Mehta
Nov 13th, 2020 Views 736