Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 17] - Ask Good Questions

The most basic way to get help is to ask a question. This has huge implications on networking and relationship building. This lesson teaches you:

- Why it's extremely punishing to ask bad questions
- How asking good questions can actually be an asset and make you look *better* to other people, earning you respect and trust
- The difference between a good and bad question, demonstrated with an in-depth example

Take the question asking course here: [Ask Great Questions That Get Great Answers Quickly](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ask-great-questions-that-get-great-answers-quickly/)

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 13] - Code Review

As an intern, your ability to navigate code reviews can significantly impact your chances of getting a return offer. It’s not just about code correctness — how you engage with feedback and your team matters just as much. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Code reviews are mandatory for shipping code and are a key mechanism for maintaining quality, sharing knowledge, and passing on team culture
- Interns often struggle with code review because it’s rarely taught; expect lots of feedback early on, and aim to show progress by reducing repeated comments over time
- Your *dynamic* — how open, curious, and quick you are in responding to feedback — is often more important than just the *substance* of your code
- Always respond quickly to feedback, ideally within an hour, and never land a PR with unresolved comments unless clearly communicated and agreed upon
- For large or confusing feedback, escalate to a synchronous conversation (e.g., a call) instead of dragging it out over multiple asynchronous review rounds

Gilad’s Take: Burnt Out and Behind

In Part 3 of the course, we explored how to apply the core lesson from Part 2—creating positive and sustainable change in organizational performance—through four practical exercises. Each scenario challenged us to identify the **"deltas"** we can introduce as managers to increase impact at the individual, team, or systems level.

- **We learned to recognize that not all growth is credited to us**, and we must focus on the growth that happens *because* of our involvement—not despite it.
- **We explored supporting high performers** by making their growth more efficient (faster) and effective (more aligned with goals), rather than just letting it happen passively.
- **We tackled underperformance** by identifying root causes, offering tailored support, and protecting teammates from negative ripple effects.
- **We addressed silent group dynamics** by recognizing the power of culture and investing in small, consistent changes to build psychological safety and lasting team habits.
- **We emphasized ruthless prioritization** as a powerful delta: helping teams focus on what truly matters, not just work harder—transforming effort into sustainable outcomes.

Now, we’re ready to take this impact to the next level in Part 4.

If you want to learn more from Gilad, he shares free leadership advice daily on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladnaor/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta) and weekly on the[ δeltas newsletter](https://posts.managementdeltas.com/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta)

Engineering Manager Responsibilities

In this lesson, we talk about understanding incentives, especially your manager’s, as a key to navigating your career and collaborating effectively. By assuming people act in their own self-interest, we better understand how managers operate and how to work with them.

- We frame a “model of the world” where we assume people act selfishly, helping us predict behavior and align with our manager’s incentives.
- We note that understanding how an engineering manager is evaluated allows us to help them look good—and in doing so, we benefit too.
- We highlight that the EM role is challenging: they’re responsible for the team’s impact without writing code themselves, focusing instead on empowering and unblocking engineers.
- We clarify that growing engineers is only part of the role—EMs also handle hiring, firing, and performance reviews; sometimes their job is not to help us grow but to manage us out if needed.
- We describe additional responsibilities like removing cross-team blockers, resolving interpersonal issues, and creating team “synergy,” which includes a wide range of people- and process-related challenges.

Become A Debugging Master [Part 16] - Retrospect

One of the best ways to turn a bug fix into long-term engineering growth is to reflect on what happened and how to prevent it next time. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- After a fix, run a retrospective to figure out how to prevent or better handle similar issues in the future
- Writing a clean, detailed doc about the incident helps future engineers quickly learn without digging through scattered updates
- Big tech companies like Meta normalize failure and use formal SEV reviews to systematically improve after incidents

Meta's SEV culture: <https://atscaleconference.com/videos/metas-sev-culture-how-todays-sevs-create-tomorrows-reliability/>

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 12] - Code Quality

Writing a lot of code isn’t enough to secure a return offer — it also needs to meet your team’s quality standards. Clean, thoughtful code makes it easier for others to review, trust, and approve your changes. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Poor quality code, even if it’s high in volume, will cost you a return offer
- High-quality code means making your changes easy to review by including a clear commit message, test plan, and relevant context
- Interns often overlook non-code details like documenting edge cases and adding screenshots or videos to demonstrate what changed
- Good code quality is about reducing friction for your reviewers — make their job easier and they’ll be more likely to trust and support you

Take the code quality course here to instantly boost your return offer chances by +50%: [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Ask Me Anything (AMA) with a Disney Eng Director - Greg Benson

[**Greg Benson**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg7gkb/) is the Director of Engineering at Disney Streaming (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Star+). Further questions and discussions are on the [AMA thread](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CdPjNOXvU882180yzs6R/im-greg-ex-googlenetflix-current-director-at-disney-ama/).

Previously, he was the Engineering Manager at Google, where he worked from 2017 - 2021. Prior to that, he was a manager at Netflix during the hypergrowth phase (2013 - 2017). Greg also has a deep background in music and audio, having received a Masters in Music & Audio Technology in 2003, and then working with Dolby for more than 5 years.

After leaving Google and before joining Disney, Greg took a career break to learn, explore, and recharge. He traveled to Ghana, learned about accounting, became a startup advisor, and read a lot.

Greg answered many questions in this Ask Me Anything (AMA). This session was moderated by [Igor Podkhodov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/podkhodov/). 

**Transitioning From Engineer to Manager: Insights and Expectations**

Greg shared his experience transitioning from an engineer to a management role. 

- Ask strategic questions in one-on-one and skip-level meetings, focusing on career trajectory and higher-level considerations. 
- Individual ownership and accountability are critical to ensure you succeed and build trust. 

They also discussed the purpose of skip-level meetings, which included understanding the expectations of senior staff and determining one's career trajectory. They emphasized the importance of adapting to different organizational and cultural contexts, as expectations can vary between companies. Igor added that it's important to verify the direction of one's actions during skip-level check-ins.

**Career Breaks and Influential Readings**

Greg discussed their influential reading materials, including [Creativity Inc](https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012), [Beyond Entrepreneurship](https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Entrepreneurship-Turning-Business-Enduring/dp/0133815269), and [Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances](https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Teams-Setting-Stage-Performances/dp/1578513332). He also shared their career journey, which involved tenures at Amazon, Netflix, and Google, a break of about a year and a half, and a transition to Disney. Greg quit his job at Google during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the challenges of remote work and the mental health burden. They emphasized the importance of taking breaks in one's career and the potential implications of extended gaps in one's employment history.

**Speeding up Engineering Velocity**

Greg discussed their experience at Disney, highlighting a less engineering-oriented approach compared to their previous roles. They also shared their insights on the factors that could accelerate an engineering team's velocity, such as testing, team culture, and the use of large systems. Greg further discussed the use of AI and large language models in the development process. During his time off, Greg learned more about AI and ML which helped him feel more confident in leveraging new advancements. For truly paradigm-shifting technologies (like AI), you won't be "too late" if you start adapting now.

**Mentorship and Career Growth**

Igor asked Greg about their approach to mentorship and its impact on their career growth. Greg shared that they have never used a career coach but has found mentorship through ad hoc interactions with colleagues. They emphasized the importance of reaching out to people for help and guidance, asserting that most people are willing to assist. They also shared their strategy of researching potential mentors before reaching out and being open-minded about learning from people in different roles and departments. Igor agreed with Greg's approach, noting the importance of persistence in finding a willing mentor.

**Career Progression**

- In a challenging economy (and world events), Greg advised holding out for a decent job that you're actually excited about, emphasizing the importance of following interests and passions. 
- Your specialization and expertise can help stand out in the job market. Startups often will have more growth and personal satisfaction. 

**Engineering Career Paths and Management Challenges**

Igor raised a question about career paths for engineers, emphasizing the need to understand motivations and challenges of growth into staff engineer or manager roles. Greg highlighted the significant responsibility that comes with a managerial role, including handling team issues, and advised finding an environment that supports career growth. They discussed the challenges and rewards of transitioning from an individual contributor to a managerial role, including loss of control, recognition, and specific deliverables, as well as the ambiguity and subjectivity of performance evaluation. The discussion ended open-ended with Prakash seeking insights on handling disagreements within teams.

**Managing Conflict: Strategies and Challenges**

Greg and Igor discussed the complexities of conflict within teams, with Greg sharing their experience and strategies for managing discord. Greg emphasized the importance of understanding power dynamics, providing coaching and feedback, and attempting to understand the other person's perspective. They also highlighted the challenges of balancing objectivity and support, and the importance of expressing empathy when disagreeing with someone. Igor shared their experience of trying to help a direct report dealing with personal issues, and learned the importance of empathy and understanding in communication. Greg also discussed the importance of different modes of listening, potential pitfalls of problem-solving over brainstorming, and the concept of escalation in conflict resolution. They suggested that if a manager is not supportive, it's important to know one's limits and consider finding a different team or having a direct conversation with the manager.

**Building Trust and Influence in the Workplace**

Greg shared his thoughts on building trust and influence in the workplace. 

- Honesty and transparency are paramount, with consistent actions over words. 
- Listening attentively and empathizing with others can help establish trust quickly. 

Greg also underscored the significance of documentation for accountability and avoiding circular conversations. They further discussed the involvement of politics in management roles, explaining that it's less about merit and more about relationships and perceptions. They clarified that healthy politics involves branding/reputation and accurately communicating achievements, rather than manipulating facts.

**Managing People and Avoiding Burnout**

Greg discussed their approach to managing people who don't read documentation, emphasizing the importance of empathy and support over shaming. They suggested providing opportunities for people to catch up, followed by a conversation if the issue persists. Igor then asked Greg about handling workload and avoiding burnout. Greg suggested contextualizing the effectiveness of meetings and encouraged individuals to assert agency over their time by choosing not to attend wasteful meetings, prioritizing their own work.

Further questions and discussions are on the [AMA thread](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CdPjNOXvU882180yzs6R/im-greg-ex-googlenetflix-current-director-at-disney-ama/).

Conclusion

That’s it.

Not the end—just the moment you stop walking with a guide and start carrying the weight yourself.

You’ve got the tools. The stories. The bruises that come with learning anything real.

Now carry it forward.

Ownership doesn’t show up in the big speeches. It shows up in the quiet. In what you do when no one’s clapping. In what happens after the meeting ends.

**Workbook:** [Creator’s Orientation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sysZuPhlrLZbU5stxlJBqg3LAcGTy_S7/view?usp=sharing)

**Want to go deeper?**

- Explore more tools and courses at [**Taha’s Method**](https://www.tahasmethod.com/) — from interview prep to leadership development.

- Follow me on [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/) and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, [**The Conscious Leader**](https://tahahussain.substack.com/), for more lessons like these.

- Get 30% off [**Top Tech Leader**](https://bit.ly/tarotopleader) with code **ILOVETARO** (exclusive for Taro members).

Amazon Behavioral Interview [Part 8] - Overcoming An Unanticipated Obstacle (Evaluation)

This video provides feedback on an individual's response to a behavioral interview question: "Tell me about a time when you had to overcome significant unanticipated obstacles to achieve a key goal."

- **Strengths:** The interviewee effectively described a challenging situation where they had to implement a new system for measuring customer satisfaction (CSAT). They acknowledged the obstacles they faced, including resistance from their team and technical limitations. They also highlighted their proactive approach in finding interim solutions (using a manual Google Form) while working towards a long-term solution (automated surveys).

- **Areas for Improvement:**

  - **Communication and Leadership:** The interviewee's description of overcoming resistance from their team could be refined. Instead of emphasizing their authority, they could focus on building consensus, explaining the benefits of the new system, and gaining their team's buy-in through clear communication and collaboration.
  - **Proactive Communication with Leadership:** The interviewee mentioned that the initial drop in CSAT scores caused some concern from leadership. They could have strengthened their response by emphasizing their proactive communication with leadership, explaining the anticipated dip in scores due to the more accurate measurement method and outlining the steps they were taking to address the underlying issues.
  - **Focus on Positive Outcomes:** The interviewee could have further emphasized the positive outcomes of their actions, such as increased customer satisfaction in the long run and improved customer relationships.

- **Overall:** The interviewee provided a solid foundation for their response. By incorporating the feedback and refining their delivery, they can significantly enhance their ability to effectively communicate their accomplishments and demonstrate their leadership and problem-solving skills in a job interview setting.

Learn more about Alan's job search program, Kadima Careers, using this [discount link](https://signup.kadimacareers.com/mQBsDvu).

The Amazing Non-Money Benefits Of Working At Big Tech

Part 7 [RBP] Use Fragments Instead Of Divs

This lesson focuses on using React Fragments to improve the structure and styling of your components when rendering multiple elements.

- **The Problem with Divs:** Learn how wrapping elements in unnecessary divs for rendering can lead to cluttered DOM structures and styling issues.
- **Introducing Fragments:** Discover how to use Fragments (empty tags `<> </>`) to group elements without adding extra nodes to the DOM, resulting in cleaner and more efficient code.
- **Benefits of Fragments:** Understand how Fragments help maintain proper styling, improve code readability, and optimize your application's performance by reducing unnecessary DOM elements.

Links:

- Florian’s free web development playlist on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuDG6BWjUFVxeWyYlve_SVJO>
- Code link: <https://github.com/codinginflow/react-best-practices/blob/fragments/src/app/page.tsx>

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 11] - Be A Feedback Sponge

With a side project, you won't have complex analytics or brilliant product managers to craft the vision for it. This lesson teaches you:

- A simple mathematical model to understand how to take your side project from embarrassing MVP to rockstar product
- Why feedback is critical for your side project
- How to get more feedback on your side project
- The urgent, high-touch mindset you absolutely need to have with feedback

Ace The ML System Design Interview [Part 7] - Questions For Your Interviewers

Interviews are a two-way street, providing an opportunity to assess whether a company and team are a good fit. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Prepare thoughtful questions that focus on factors directly impacting your work experience, such as on-call responsibilities and decision-making processes
- Avoid vague questions like "What's the work-life balance like?" and instead probe for root causes, such as the frequency and intensity of on-call duties or whether decisions are made top-down or bottom-up
- Understand the company's decision-making culture to gain insights into potential work-life balance challenges
- Ask targeted questions to get a clearer picture of the team's dynamics and the day-to-day realities of the role
- Take advantage of engineers’ straightforward answers to learn what it’s really like to work at the company

If you like what Ilya has to say, subscribe to his YouTube for more high-quality ML/AI career guidance: [MLEpath - YouTube](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-youtube-mlepath)

If you want hands-on support from Ilya to crack the FAANG ML interview, join his coaching program: [MLEpath - Coaching Program](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-march-25)

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 6] - Least Clicks Design

You don't need to be a product design to build great software with a smooth user interface. This lesson teaches you:

- Why *every* engineer needs to care about UX, not just front-end engineers (web/mobile)
- The core philosophy you need to remember when crafting user interfaces
- The difference between a good product and a bad product when it comes to least clicks design
- What it looks like to truly champion least clicks design, explained with an in-depth example

Let them carry it. You’ve done your part.

You’ve seen the pieces.\
Now we pull them together.

This final act is about how ownership moves—how everything you’ve practiced shows up when things get messy, unclear, or just plain stuck.

It’s less about new ideas, more about recognizing the patterns, and deciding what to do when they land on your desk.

**Workbook:** [Creator’s Orientation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sysZuPhlrLZbU5stxlJBqg3LAcGTy_S7/view?usp=sharing)

**Want to go deeper?**

- Explore more tools and courses at [**Taha’s Method**](https://www.tahasmethod.com/) — from interview prep to leadership development.

- Follow me on [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/) and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, [**The Conscious Leader**](https://tahahussain.substack.com/), for more lessons like these.

- Get 30% off [**Top Tech Leader**](https://bit.ly/tarotopleader) with code **ILOVETARO** (exclusive for Taro members).

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 17] - Frequency

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 15] - AI Tools

With AI tools becoming increasingly embedded in the software development workflow, it’s important for interns to use them wisely without compromising their own growth or credibility. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Interns should embrace AI tools but avoid over-reliance, as teams are assessing *their* engineering abilities—not the tool’s
- Use of AI must comply with company policies, and interns should always understand and be able to defend the code they submit
- AI is best used for boilerplate and simple tasks, but the intern should remain the core problem solver and decision-maker

Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 14] - SEO

When it comes to getting traffic, a lot of it comes down to being in the good graces of a single FAANG company. This lesson teaches you:

- What SEO (search engine optimization) is
- The many ways you can waste your time with SEO
- An incredibly simple way to understand how to succeed at SEO
- The most straightforward, highest leverage way you can boost your SEO
- How to organically generate more web pages for your product, explained with an in-depth example

This is the only SEO tool you need: <https://search.google.com/search-console/about>

Burnt Out and Behind

In this final exercise, we confront a situation where a team is putting in extra hours but still failing to meet deadlines. This signals systemic issues that go beyond individual effort—and calls for thoughtful intervention.

- We recognize that **unsustainable effort without results is a red flag**—it shows that working harder isn't the solution.
- We can introduce deltas by **investigating root causes**: Are goals unrealistic? Are priorities misaligned? Is there a process breakdown?
- It’s our responsibility to **shift focus from intensity to effectiveness**—fixing the system so performance improves without burnout.
- We look at **team norms, project planning habits, and cross-functional dependencies** to identify leverage points for change.
- Our role is to help the team **recover sustainably**, improving delivery while preserving morale and long-term capacity.

If you want to learn more from Gilad, he shares free leadership advice daily on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladnaor/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta) and weekly on the[ δeltas newsletter](https://posts.managementdeltas.com/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta)

Get Hands-On Experience With Frontline And Customers

In addition to data and structured methods, **immersive, first-hand experiences and direct customer research** gave us some of the most impactful input metrics and ideas at Amazon. These approaches helped ground our innovation efforts in real customer needs and operational realities.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We gained critical insight from frontline experience**: During Amazon’s early years, leadership—including Jeff Bezos—regularly worked in fulfillment centers and answered customer service calls during peak seasons. These visceral experiences helped us better understand operational pain points and identify new input metrics.
- **We institutionalized hands-on learning**: The value was so great that we made it a requirement—every Amazon employee spends time in frontline roles each year. This creates empathy, sharpens customer focus, and surfaces measurable opportunities for improvement.
- **We used customer research to drive innovation**: Surveys, focus groups, and third-party data sources gave us clear, actionable feedback. A simple survey on why customers didn’t shop more often revealed four key barriers—shipping cost, delivery speed, selection, and price—which directly shaped the creation of Amazon Prime and our long-term priorities.
- **We traced key customer complaints back to inputs**: From that early research, we began measuring and improving core inputs like in-stock rate, selection breadth, delivery speed, and pricing—cementing them in our flywheel as long-term business drivers.
- **We leveraged sales and customer interactions in B2B contexts**: Especially in business-to-business scenarios, we worked closely with sales teams and met customers in person to gather input-rich feedback, helping us refine offerings and discover metrics specific to client pain points.

Together, these methods reinforce the importance of **direct, empathetic engagement with customers and operations**—not just to build understanding, but to generate input metrics that we can track, improve, and build entire services around.

To dive deeper into Input Metrics Mastery and learn more from Bill and Colin, follow these links:

- Take the full course at their website: <https://workingbackwards.com/>
- Buy the book: <https://www.amazon.com/Working-Backwards-Insights-Stories-Secrets/dp/1250267595>
- Bill's LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/>
- Colin's LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinbryar/>

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.