Scaling heights, what bouldering taught me about engineering management

I never thought my hobby would have much to do with my day job. Just recently when reflecting on what success looks like for me it suddenly struck me: I've come to realize these two passions have more in common than meets the eye. Here's what scaling rocks has taught me about scaling teams and projects.

Training the Muscle

In my climbing gym, we have different difficulty grades. I didn't start tackling higher grades overnight. It took years of consistent training, gradually building my strength and technique. The same goes for becoming an effective engineering manager. You don't wake up one day suddenly able to lead complex projects or navigate tricky team dynamics. The role demands soft skills, which are honed and refined over time through consistent practice. In my case this especially meant focusing on people skills to give practical feedback to grow people, to find the right tools and processes to empower people and to motivate and unify engineers behind a vision. All of those were not a one-time action and done but instead required incremental improvements. In the gym this is the same case especially when overcoming mental barriers like dynamic moves to jump from one hold to another, work on your core tension to keep the hold and improve your footwork to absorb the power from the jump.

Adapting on the Fly

Bouldering always involves risk. You have to weigh the potential of a fall against the reward of completing a challenging move. Engineering management involves similar risk-reward calculations such as: Do we try this new technology? How can we balance innovation and stability? What makes these decisions even more challenging is that you often have to make them with limited information at hand.
One of the things I love about bouldering is that each problem is unique. A technique that works on one route might be useless on another, so you have to be ready to switch up your approach mid-climb since your prior meticulous plan does not work out anymore.

I've found the same to be true in engineering management. What works for one team or situation might fall flat with another. You must be flexible and ready to change course when your initial plan isn't working out.

Embracing Failure

When I first approach a boulder problem, I study the route set. I look for potential holds and try to visualize my route to the top. This approach is not unlike how I tackle a new project at work. I need to see the end goal and map out the steps to get there. Both require a mix of analysis and imagination.
In bouldering, success is clear - you either top out or you don't. In engineering management, it's fuzzier. But in both cases, you know you've succeeded when you've overcome a challenge that initially seemed impossible.

I can't count the number of times I've fallen off a boulder. Each time, I dust myself off, reassess, and try again. This mindset has served me well as an engineering manager. Deadlines will be missed, conflicts will arise, and priorities will change. The key is to view these not as failures but as opportunities to learn and improve.
People management is a great example for that. Starting out in management you often find yourself to be an overly friendly manager since you don't want to be a jerk to former colleagues. This was my case and it made it very hard to deliver hard but required feedback to get people out of their comfort zones and to learn. I made it a habit to note down situations where people could have done better and give them structured feedback tailored to specific situations.
What also helped me is identify motivators of my team since it's different for everyone: some might like being the architect, some like firefighting, some excel in stakeholder communication. Learning these patterns and channelling the right feedback takes time and a lot of incremental learning.

The Power of Community

Bouldering might seem like a solo sport, but it's incredibly collaborative. We spot each other, share tips on tackling a problem, and cheer each other on. I try to foster the same atmosphere in my engineering teams. We're all working towards a common goal, and we get there faster when we support each other. This happens with 360 feedback, retrospectives, mentorship and the broad concept of team ownership. Empowering engineers and enabling them to take decisions in our product is key.

Conclusion

Earlier, I wrote, In bouldering, success is clear. I initially thought the same about engineering management: I’m successful when big features are delivered, when our bosses give us standing ovations, and when the big salary raises are rolling in.
This leads to a significant issue: You hold yourself up to unrealistic standards, and if those big wins don't come around, you feel bummed. You might feel like you're not doing "it" right. A perspective I decided to pursue instead is very similar to bouldering:

In bouldering gyms, you have routes of different difficulties. I start with V1, and once I’m comfortable with this, I go to the next level, V2. I might not nail V2 right away, but I practice and take all the help I need. This is your growth zone. To get better, you need to try uncomfortable routes and unknown movements.
Each route consists of holds that require certain movements to cross, so each route presents different problems.
Whenever I fail, I recognize that I need to practice the current move before I can make the next one, while also acknowledging how many moves I've already mastered.

That is success. That is engineering management. We have tasks we feel comfortable with, such as V1s. We have tasks that we can solve mostly without help, such as V2. We have tasks where we absolutely need help, but it will help us grow in the future, V3.

Success is continuously solving all these small challenges. Success is the way, not the destination and it certainly is no race.

In the end, both bouldering and engineering management are about problem-solving. They require a blend of analytical thinking, creativity, perseverance, and adaptability. So, the next time you face a tough challenge at work, try approaching it like a boulder problem. Break it down, visualize your path, and don't be afraid to fall a few times before you reach the top. It really is our human nature of curiosity and resilience that enables you too to take these steps, you can do it just like everyone else who failed before did it. You might be surprised at how far you can climb.

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Dennis Berthold

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