Conference: Nov 5-7, 2018
Workshops: Nov 8–9, 2018
Presentation: Vision & Strategy - Epiphanies of a Netflix Leader
Share this on:
Abstract
New managers are reactive tacticians by default. Product managers drive requirements and due dates. Technical migrations, operational emergencies, and support requests form a maelstrom of distraction. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with these challenges and a common reaction is to double down on speed and efficiency. These are important tactical skills to develop but leadership (vs management) is a whole different game. Leaders are proactive, seeking out opportunities to get ahead of challenges or enable new possibilities.
Leaders think broadly and systemically - enabling them to make the right call in situations where the solution is non-obvious. Where do we apply constrained resources to maximum effect? Which infrastructure investments will yield the most benefit? How do we carve out a path that leads to transformative change?
In this session we’ll explore the concepts of vision and strategy - tools that business and technical leaders alike leverage to make tough decisions and smart bets that lead to breakout success. Using Netflix as a case study we’ll explore how these tools were used to drive bold initiatives resulting in significant business growth and competitive barriers. In addition, we’ll delve into the role of technical strategy in turning business-oriented visions into reality. Attendees will develop a deeper understanding of the formulation, implementation, and impact of vision and strategy. This is a bootstrap for those who want to make the leap from manager to leader - a journey that can last a lifetime.
Interview
After doing engineering management for a several years I started to wonder why some of my peers were being promoted but I was not. When I asked I was told that I was "not strategic enough". While I appreciated the feedback I wasn't able to put it into context. What did it mean to be more or less strategic? Formal definitions didn't really help. I sought more advice and slowly got traction but it wasn't until years later that I was able to put everything into place. My motivation for this talk is to give new leaders and and those curious about leadership a leg up so that they can start developing these more advanced skills as early as possible.
I hope that attendees will come away with a deep appreciation for the power of well-defined visions and effective strategies. We'll walk through real-world examples that demonstrate how specific strategies manifest. If I do a good job attendees will internalize these concepts so that they can start to develop their own visions and strategies and with practice master these skills.
There are two constituencies that will benefit from this talk. 1) Relatively new managers who are struggling to get ahead of challenges or establish a strong sense of direction and purpose. 2) Individual contributors who are interested in getting a glimpse into the world of leadership and the skills necessary to be successful long term.
Similar Talks
![](../sites/default/files/styles/similar_talks/public/cody47da4.png?itok=U6RE5iuk)
![](../sites/default/files/styles/similar_talks/public/headshot_655ef.jpg?itok=ZTuutuBB)
![](../sites/default/files/styles/similar_talks/public/sobo35c2.png?itok=1I1QW7o-)
.
Tracks
-
Architectures You've Always Wondered About
Architectural practices from the world's most well-known properties, featuring startups, massive scale, evolving architectures, and software tools used by nearly all of us.
-
Going Serverless
Learn about the state of Serverless & how to successfully leverage it! Lessons learned in the track hit on security, scalability, IoT, and offer warnings to watch out for.
-
Microservices: Patterns and Practices
Stories of success and failure building modern Microservices, including event sourcing, reactive, decomposition, & more.
-
DevOps: You Build It, You Run It
Pushing DevOps beyond adoption into cultural change. Hear about designing resilience, managing alerting, CI/CD lessons, & security. Features lessons from open source, Linkedin, Netflix, Financial Times, & more.
-
The Art of Chaos Engineering
Failure is going to happen - Are you ready? Chaos engineering is an emerging discipline - What is the state of the art?
-
The Whole Engineer
Success as an engineer is more than writing code. Hear inward looking thoughts on inclusion, attitude, leadership, remote working, and not becoming the brilliant jerk.
-
Evolving Java
Java continues to evolve & change. Track covers Spring 5, async, Kotlin, serverless, the 6-month cadence plans, & AI/ML use cases.
-
Security: Attacking and Defending
Offense and defensive security evolution that application developers should know about including SGX Enclaves, effects of AI, software exploitation techniques, & crowd defense
-
The Practice & Frontiers of AI
Learn about machine learning in practice and on the horizon. Learn about ML at Quora, Uber's Michelangelo, ML workflow with Netflix Meson and topics on Bots, Conversational interfaces, automation, and deployment practices in the space.
-
21st Century Languages
Compile to Native, Microservices, Machine learning... tailor-made languages solving modern challenges, featuring use cases around Go, Rust, C#, and Elm.
-
Modern CS in the Real World
Applied trends in Computer Science that are likely to affect Software Engineers today. Topics include category theory, crypto, CRDT's, logic-based automated reasoning, and more.
-
Stream Processing In The Modern Age
Compelling applications of stream processing using Flink, Beam, Spark, Strymon & recent advances in the field, including Custom Windowing, Stateful Streaming, SQL over Streams.
-
Performance Mythbusting
Real world, applied performance proofs across stacks. Hear performance consideratiosn for .NET, Python, & Java. Learn performance use cases with OpenJ9, Instagram, and Netflix.
-
Tools and Culture: What's Beyond a Stack of Containers?
Containers are not just a techology. It's a platform. Push your knowledge.
-
Web as Platform
All things Browser, from JavaScript Frameworks for animation and AR / VR to Web Assembly and from protocol work to open standards evolution.
-
Beyond Being an Individual Contributor
Beyond being an individual contributor. Building and Evolving managers and tech leadership.
-
Building Great Engineering Cultures
Why engineering culture matters. Track features org scaling, memes as a culture tool, Ally skills, and panels on diversity / inclusion.
-
Hardware Frontiers: Changes Affecting Software Developers Today
Topics around: Quantum computing, NVM, SMR, GPU, custom hardware, self-driving cars, and mobile hardware.