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  • An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management
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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
1,035 global ratings
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4 star
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An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

byWill Larson
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Top positive review

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Gergely Orosz
5.0 out of 5 starsAn overdue book on software engineering, not just for leads and managers
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on August 3, 2019
An Elegant Puzzle is to date the most hands-on perspective on engineering management within a high-growth, tech-first organization, that I have read. It's a long overdue book for engineering managers and leads. I like how it takes an engineering-focused view on management, instead of taking a management-focused view on software engineering, that other books on this topic have.

Having read many management and engineering management books, what set Will's book apart is it starts right where the others end. An Elegant Puzzle wastes no time - especially not in the beginning - on covering the generic manager's toolkit, such as 1:1s, giving feedback, team building, which many other books devote a good chunk of their content. Instead, it talks about the engineering pain points that come with a high-growth organization and team, once management fundamentals are in place. What to do when our systems are slowing us down, but we have too many migrations? What's a good way to pay down tech debt? How do we say no, when there is so much work, but not enough people? How do we grow seniority evenly across the team?

The tone of the book is casual: it feels like we're sitting with Will, having coffee, while he talks about problems he's faced at different companies, systemic approaches he's seen work best, then giving examples of things that worked for him, in the past. I like how the book rarely presents "best" approaches, instead, Will shares what worked for him - with a healthy dose of systems thinking - and approaches he recommends to his peers and managers on his team.

The book is a good read for product managers and engineers working at high-growth companies will find it a good read. Other disciplines working with engineering - such as recruiters or operations - can get more empathy towards engineering, when reading it. The head of product at a large startup recently told me how she was devouring over the book and a recruiting manager, who read the book, shared how he thought the book translates well to managing people in his field.
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8 people found this helpful

Top critical review

All critical reviews›
J. Pruetting
3.0 out of 5 starsHardcover quality went way down
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on June 21, 2022
I've ordered the hardcover version of this book twice, once in 2019 and once in 2022. The older book from 2019 looks and feels like a really high quality book; it's beautiful. The book from 2022 looks like a cheap copy. It went from having a smooth, subtle crosshatch texture with off-white and subdued black on the cover to a rough texture with stark white and pure black. The pages also feel thinner and cheaper as well.
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4 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Gergely Orosz
5.0 out of 5 stars An overdue book on software engineering, not just for leads and managers
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on August 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
An Elegant Puzzle is to date the most hands-on perspective on engineering management within a high-growth, tech-first organization, that I have read. It's a long overdue book for engineering managers and leads. I like how it takes an engineering-focused view on management, instead of taking a management-focused view on software engineering, that other books on this topic have.

Having read many management and engineering management books, what set Will's book apart is it starts right where the others end. An Elegant Puzzle wastes no time - especially not in the beginning - on covering the generic manager's toolkit, such as 1:1s, giving feedback, team building, which many other books devote a good chunk of their content. Instead, it talks about the engineering pain points that come with a high-growth organization and team, once management fundamentals are in place. What to do when our systems are slowing us down, but we have too many migrations? What's a good way to pay down tech debt? How do we say no, when there is so much work, but not enough people? How do we grow seniority evenly across the team?

The tone of the book is casual: it feels like we're sitting with Will, having coffee, while he talks about problems he's faced at different companies, systemic approaches he's seen work best, then giving examples of things that worked for him, in the past. I like how the book rarely presents "best" approaches, instead, Will shares what worked for him - with a healthy dose of systems thinking - and approaches he recommends to his peers and managers on his team.

The book is a good read for product managers and engineers working at high-growth companies will find it a good read. Other disciplines working with engineering - such as recruiters or operations - can get more empathy towards engineering, when reading it. The head of product at a large startup recently told me how she was devouring over the book and a recruiting manager, who read the book, shared how he thought the book translates well to managing people in his field.
8 people found this helpful
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Simon NINON
5.0 out of 5 stars Best management book I have read so far
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on January 26, 2020
Verified Purchase
I bought this book without too many expectations: most management books are usually either poorly written, either full of banalities, either too abstract.

However, this book is one of the rare excellent ones, and most probably a must-read for any manager (probably even outside tech).
I'm a junior manager and I initially thought the book was not a good fit for me as I started to read the first chapter: this book is written by an upper-manager and talks about many problems related to upper-management that a junior manager does not encounter himself, especially in the first two chapters.

However, I kept reading and it was the right thing to do: the book is incredibly complete and covers everything. Many points are actually relevant whether you are a junior manager or a more experienced one. For the other parts more related to upper-management (for example, restructuring a department), those are still very interesting and eye-opening to read for a junior manager: you get to better understand what your own manager is doing now, or what challenges he will face soon. It truly allows you to connect the dots and reflect more about your own company environment.

Besides that, this book is very practical. It's very easy to understand each point and how to approach each problem. Of course, each company is different and you can't have a cooking-recipe that works everywhere: you still need to adapt based on your environment, but you are much clearer on how to do it, and what should you pay attention to. This is much better than most other books out there that focus on banalities everyone already knows, or only stick to an abstract level such that you don't know much more than when you started reading them.

I can't recommend enough that book.
3 people found this helpful
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Kevin Stevens
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book- formalized a bunch of half thoughts I had floating in my head for a long time.
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on January 11, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is a must read for any manager in an engineering org- this really dives into the challenges of managers face, and also more importantly- what they should really be focusing on them to solve those problems.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, accessible content.
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on July 4, 2019
Verified Purchase
I recently completed a read of this on my Kindle, and promptly bought three physical copies to share with other leaders within my workplace. Page for page, this is the best contemporary IT management book I've read in the past year. That the author (as of this review) works at Stripe, and that the company saw fit to publish this book, is one of the best bits of endorsements for a company I've encountered in quite a while.

The author and their editor have done a superb job of distilling a significant amount of value into a brief and accessible text. Included within are recommendations on everything from organizational design, tools to improve the act of engineering management, higher-level approaches to tackling common problems within the field, and specific methods by which you can shape an organizational culture. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover more than a token acknowledgement of the importance of creating and fostering a diverse workforce, something too easily overlooked in the tech industry. Finally, there are a wealth of additional book recommendations (thoughtfully re-listed in the appendix) to further your own learning.

I have worked in management roles within the tech startup scene and in more traditional enterprise IT environments. Of the recommendations found within this book that I've personally implemented or seen in my career, I agree with the author's perspective on their value. Of the ones I haven't, this gave me the vocabulary and a framework to explain how they can address problems of which my current workplace is suffering. I look forward to trying them out.
9 people found this helpful
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J. Pruetting
3.0 out of 5 stars Hardcover quality went way down
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on June 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
I've ordered the hardcover version of this book twice, once in 2019 and once in 2022. The older book from 2019 looks and feels like a really high quality book; it's beautiful. The book from 2022 looks like a cheap copy. It went from having a smooth, subtle crosshatch texture with off-white and subdued black on the cover to a rough texture with stark white and pure black. The pages also feel thinner and cheaper as well.
4 people found this helpful
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ThinQ180
2.0 out of 5 stars Neither elegant nor puzzle
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on April 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Did not find the content particularly insightful. It flows like a hotpotch of personal blog posts.
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GR
5.0 out of 5 stars A book I regularly go back to for tips/refresher
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on May 27, 2021
Verified Purchase
I keep coming back to this after reading most of it and skipping parts. Most non-fiction self help books lack a good enough thesis to warrant 200+ pages. This book easily warrants itโ€™s page count and weight. Iโ€™ve come back to the sections on defining strategy, interviewing, etc. What I love most is that itโ€™s written as someone who did the job and they consolidated all their best tips into this volume. Itโ€™s not a bunch of theory without application but great examples and structure to be highly actionable. Any book I come back to multiple times to refresh a concept is a winner for me.
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Evgeny
3.0 out of 5 stars More time and editing was required to successfully merge the blogs into a book.
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on July 6, 2020
Verified Purchase
I appreciate Stripe as a company with quality product(s) and have enjoyed the Collison brothers' perspective on various topics from technology, finance, to philosophy and beyond. I decided to look into Stripe Press - intrigued by the themes they would cover and publish.

This was the third book I read from the catalogue. It had good observations and beneficial advice. Unfortunately, the quality of the hardcover felt tainted because of typos (some examples attached by photos) and bad editing. There were similar issues in the first book I read, High Growth Handbook. Although I'm still looking forward to the rest of the catalogue, the avoidable mistakes discourage and rub away excitement.
Customer image
Evgeny
3.0 out of 5 stars More time and editing was required to successfully merge the blogs into a book.
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on July 6, 2020
I appreciate Stripe as a company with quality product(s) and have enjoyed the Collison brothers' perspective on various topics from technology, finance, to philosophy and beyond. I decided to look into Stripe Press - intrigued by the themes they would cover and publish.

This was the third book I read from the catalogue. It had good observations and beneficial advice. Unfortunately, the quality of the hardcover felt tainted because of typos (some examples attached by photos) and bad editing. There were similar issues in the first book I read, High Growth Handbook. Although I'm still looking forward to the rest of the catalogue, the avoidable mistakes discourage and rub away excitement.
Images in this review
Customer image Customer image Customer image Customer image
Customer imageCustomer imageCustomer imageCustomer image
29 people found this helpful
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Spencer Pitman
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential organization design text
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on June 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is one of the best texts on organizational design and praxis I've ever read.

Larson's earned wisdom is presented as practical but not overly prescriptive as he encourages readers to filter his insights through their own context. The humility is refreshing and powerful in space dominated by "thought leaders" who have done little of the work themselves. Larson speaks with the measured qualification of someone who has earned their knowledge on the ground, and it makes the book both an enjoyable read and imminently useful, even for those building, managing, and guiding teams far outside the realm of engineering.
12 people found this helpful
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Papaver Jewelry Creations
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and thoughtful approach to management utilizing human-centric thinking patterns of success
Reviewed in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ on May 31, 2019
Verified Purchase
This book will surprise many! Will Larson has done a superb job in putting this bible for success together for anyone who is leading an organization through transformation. Though it is written from the lens of IT/Engineering Management practices, the approaches, tools and strategies described can be applied in any part of the organization. For me, this book was very timely! I will be able to use the guidance immediately and see results. Glad I pre ordered it! Also, the book binding is beautiful and very elegant! Thank you !
3 people found this helpful
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