Sophie Roberts

tldr: I'm hiring! As many of you know, I recently joined Lattice as their SVP of Engineering and I'm excited to announce that I'm hiring for all Engineering levels and more broadly, Lattice has open roles across EPD. If you're wondering, why Lattice? The last few years have seen a step change in how we think about the meaning of work and the employer <> employee relationship - add on the fuel of AI taking our jobs and you could be forgiven for thinking the future of work looks bleak for employees. It doesn't need to be that way - here at Lattice we're building the next generation of talent tools to give employers insights and employees purpose because people matter at work. Among other things, we're using generative AI to securely analyze enormous volumes of data to unlock career insights faster and investing in building equitable feedback, compensation and employer analytics tools - not just for one company but for all companies. If you're interested in making a difference to the future of work then let's chat - all roles are remote eligible and based in the US. We have physical offices in San Francisco and NYC if you prefer the in-office environment.

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What's not being good at interviewing costing you? "I just cannot seem to interview well. I have lost out on roles to people who used to report to me." I was speaking to my client—let's call him Steve. He was a smart, accomplished product leader who had led successful launches of products you have probably heard of. He launched multiple hit products, drove millions in revenue, and all that jazz. But Steven had a problem—a big one. Despite being a total PM rockstar, he still interviewed like he had seven years ago. When he was interviewed, the impression he left was "Great product manager, not leadership material yet." Ever felt like you're the most accomplished person in the room, but when it comes to interviews, you can't seem to convey that? That was Steve. Do you know who didn't choke on interviews? The PM's Steve personally trained and mentored. That's right - Steve's own pupils interviewed well rose above their sensei by having better storytelling and positioning, and the executive presence and confidence that got them further in an interview. His pupils had risen to levels above him. Can you imagine how emasculating and demoralizing that must have felt? To have your star pupils, whom you groomed from scratch, outshine and outearn you just because they could describe their achievements better? Steve had already missed out on many years of success, new roles, and millions of dollars because he was worse at interviewing. He felt the sting of watching others, who he knew he was more qualified than, climb the ranks and achieve the success he deserved. This wasn't just a financial loss but a blow to his self-esteem. He wanted his kids to look up to him and be proud of his accomplishments. Enough was enough. He decided he couldn't afford to lose out anymore. He came to us as Intentional Product Manager, determined to turn things around. We worked with him to refine his narrative, boost his interview skills, and truly represent the outstanding professional he is. It took work, but he got there. The result? He's achieved a prime role at a company you would have heard of and now makes over a million dollars annually. Not only did he secure the financial success he always deserved, but he also earned the respect and admiration of his peers and, most importantly, his family. But as importantly, he carries his skills and executive presence every day. --- P.S., If this resonates with you, and you: - Are a product manager - You love to take action - You are committed to career growth But if you need help in landing that ideal next role. DM me "dream role" and I will send you details. We only work with selected folks and have started to limit how many people we accept every month.

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DORA metrics for years have shown that speed, agility and safety are not mutually exclusive.  Add employee well-being to that as well.  Re-reading the DORA report by Nathen Harvey and team over at Google and something on page 6 (“Stable priorities boost productivity AND well-being” ) reminded me of a situation where I took over a team in 2018 and quickly realized a few things.  There was some serious burnout taking place on this team, some of which was connected to long hours,  but also people did not have a good pulse on direction and priorities.  I quickly realized this was a problem. Dr. Christina Maslach is an expert in the field of burnout and identified six drivers of burnout.  Some of the six drivers of burnout resonated with the situation I was observing. This included workload, autonomy and values. The meaning of the work, impact to the organization, how much input we had and the complexity of trying to do all the things all were impacting burnout.  I immediately set to focus on the mission of the team. How did I come to these conclusions? I just listened (coaching mindset) and connected with the team. In our first few 1:1 sessions I asked questions to better understand the struggles and problems the team was facing. Priorities were changing every other week, if not more frequently. So we (together) focused on redefining our mission and purpose, found a north star for the team and began a new journey that aligned with the overall mission of the organization. It took time, but by the end of 2020 we had launched a new platform, transformed our ways of working(learning, lean, agile) and tamed the prioritization whiplash. The result was 100% eNPS scores on Motivation and Workplace Engagement. #transformationalleadership #leadership #technology #coaching

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🌟 The Superpower of Connecting the Dots: Thoughts on High Impact Communication 🌟 In my career at companies like Meta and Google, I learned that effective leaders possess a unique superpower: organizational awareness. This isn't just about having information; it's about connecting the dots across a complex organization to drive impactful efforts. 🚀 Consider this: On any given day, tech leaders spend 70 to 90 percent of their time communicating. Yet, effective communication is much more than mere information exchange—it’s about informing, influencing, and inspiring. 🗣️✨ Consider this common scenario in large organizations: multiple teams working in silos, unknowingly duplicating efforts on similar efforts. This is not merely about redundancy but represents a significant missed opportunity for collaboration. When leaders facilitate connections between these teams, allowing them to share insights and understand each other’s projects, the result is often a merging or improvement of projects. This not only enhances the outcomes but also improves organizational efficiency. Such strategic collaboration underscores the power of effective leadership in fostering organizational coherence and productivity. 🛠️🤝 This experience underscored a critical lesson: Great leaders don’t just operate within their teams; they have the vision to see beyond, identifying overlaps and opportunities across the organization. Here are some actionable insights for leaders aspiring to master this superpower: 1) Step back to see the big picture: Engage with different teams, join cross-departmental meetings, and keep abreast of broader organizational goals. 2) Communicate with context: Always provide the 'why' behind your messages. This not only informs but also empowers and aligns your team with the organization's vision. 3) Be a conduit, not a bottleneck: Share knowledge freely unless specifically instructed otherwise. Your team's trust in you grows when they see you as a source of valuable information. 4) Foster connections: Encourage your team to network within and beyond their immediate circles. This builds a more interconnected team and enhances problem-solving capabilities. Remember, information is plentiful, but the ability to connect the dots to form a clear, actionable picture is what sets true leaders apart. #TechLeadership #Communication #Teamwork #OrganizationalAwareness #Influence #Inspire

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With AI driving a transformation in tech, leaders today need more than just a solid plan—they need the tools and mindset to stay flexible. Strategies that work one day might need an overhaul the next, in my experience Facebook/Meta has mastered those techniques that help them and their teams pivot fast when needed (just look at their shift to AI). Here are a few essential techniques that keep leaders and their teams adaptable: ⛏️ Separate Everyday Tasks from Strategic Work: Leaders who delegate everyday tasks create space for their best people to focus on high-stakes goals. I saw this a few times at Meta, including with the creation of Threads (which happened in record time) ⛏️ Decision-Making Close to Execution: Empowering those closest to the work to make day-to-day decisions drives faster, more effective adjustments. Leaders who push decision-making authority down get quicker results and stronger buy-in from their teams. ⛏️ Align the Organization around Strategy: “Form and function should be one” applies here—when teams keep strategy and execution tightly linked, they’re better able to stay focused, even as they adapt to new conditions in real time. ⛏️ Trial and Error: Nothing beats learning in real-time. When I was at Google working on ambitious projects like capturing Street View from mountain peaks, we had a roadmap, but it was through trial and error—adjusting to conditions on the ground—that we really succeeded. It’s all about adapting as you go (check out a picture of me learning to Iceclibm on one of these early trips, talk about agility!). 💡 Takeaway: In this AI-fueled era, agility is everything. Make trial and error a core practice, free up strategic thinkers from busywork, and let decisions happen where the work gets done. The leaders who thrive today are the ones using these techniques to help their teams stay adaptable, focused, and ready for whatever comes next. #TechLeadership #AgileLeadership #AIRevolution #Adaptability #Innovation #Teamwork #Strategy #TrialAndError #GrowthMindset #TechTransformation #ExecutiveInsights #OrganizationalDevelopment #DecisionMaking

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What are you doing this Friday at noon, Boston time? WRONG! You're joining me for a roundtable chat with Jellyfish's own CFO, Joanne Cheng on what many engineering leaders get wrong during budget planning. Treat yourself to some good tips and tricks for leveraging data effectively and driving financial impact at the company level. Come hang out, share your own tips and experiences, and meet other leaders. Click it --> https://lnkd.in/eDxaJ4tZ

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"Your main job is to make your product win." I think this should apply to any product that your company makes. I also like what he says following this statement about what is NOT your main job. I will summarize here: "Your main job is not to make your manager happy, it is not to make execs happy." Also, note, this main job doesn't only apply to PMs, but also to senior Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, and Designers. #makeyourproductwin #leadership

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Six teams. One mission. Zero department politics. Here's what happened. In under a year, we tackled what seemed impossible: completely transforming our tech stack. 5 major launches and over 25+ passionate teammates working together- we didn't just streamline systems. We redefined what cross-functional excellence looks like. 1️⃣ Your tech stack is your competitive edge. In the AI era, simplicity wins. And we are all in on HubSpot on HubSpot. The cleaner your architecture, the better your AI performs. We're seeing unprecedented servicing efficiency because every team – from Product to CS to Ops – optimized for simplicity from day one. 2️⃣ Start Together, Win Together. The foundation? 100% leadership buy-in across Product, CS, and Ops before we wrote a single line of code. We kicked off with a 2-day workshop where hierarchy took a backseat to expertise. VPs sat beside frontline managers, tech leads collaborated with business analysts. Decisions that usually took weeks happened in hours because everyone who needed to say "yes" was already aligned and in the room. 3️⃣ Trust the Experts, Move Fast Instead of getting trapped in endless planning cycles, we empowered our front-line experts to make real-time decisions. The result? 24-hour response times to critical issues and a GTM team that knew we had their back. As one team member put it: "We didn't always know how we'd solve something, but we knew we would." ✨ There are SO many to shoutout that made this program successful. Special mentions to Rebecca Armistead, Pamela Nunez, Louise Ryan, Aly Suleiman, Jordi Zacarias Llera, Cory Penquite, Maria Alejandra Franco Quintero, Jeff Love, Alex Balcerski, Amy Esposito, Anna Ishizeki, Rachel Ram Chandra, Ashley Cobane, Karolina Zielinski, PMP, Melissa King, MPH, Benjamin Bedenkop, Edward Donovan, Gabriel Bertero, Jo Crossick, Timucin Uygungil, Clodagh Joyce, Rich A., and of course David Hunt for the incredible vision and determination. And to every single person who showed up ready to win for our customers – you know who you are! What are examples of excellence in execution you've seen? Share below 👇

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🌟 From IC to Leader - Learning to Empower, Not Pressure 🌟 Moving from an individual contributor (IC) role to managing a team has been a bigger transition than I anticipated. As an IC, I thrived on solving problems quickly and setting high standards. But as a manager, I realized this approach was creating pressure on my team to work to the same expectations, sometimes without the same resources or experiences. Here’s how I’m shifting my approach to lead more effectively: 1. Involving the Team in Goal-Setting: Rather than setting targets based on my personal past performance, I find ways for my team to establish goals. This allows each person to feel ownership and stay motivated without unnecessary pressure. 2. Celebrating Progress, Not Perfection: I’ve started to recognize progress and small wins along the way, not just the final outcomes. Acknowledging milestones in long-term projects shows my team that growth is a journey, not a race to an end point. 3. Supporting, Not Solving: When a team member encounters a challenge, instead of offering a solution immediately, I ask questions like, “What steps would you take here?” or “How would you solve this?” It empowers them to think critically and builds their confidence. Other areas where small changes can bring big impact. 1. Modeling Work-Life Balance: I’m activaley working on demonstrating healthy boundaries—like stepping away from emails after hours or taking necessary breaks. Setting this example reassures the team that they’re not expected to be “always on” to be successful. 2. Delegating Ownership, Not Just Tasks: I’ve started assigning entire projects based on individual strengths, rather than just single tasks. Full ownership makes each member feel trusted and responsible for the outcome, while I focus on guiding and supporting the overall strategy. Each of these changes has been valuable in helping me transition from being a problem-solver to an enabler. Leadership is about empowering others, and I’m grateful for the lessons learned along the way. How do you manage such challenges on your team? #Leadership #EmpoweringTeams #MiddleManagement #GrowthMindset #Teamwork #LinkedInCommunity

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Making progress on my sprint for Maria Gabriela Ochoa Perez Waechter's YIBL-BAM. On to STRY0006--adding a top level (L1) navigation link to create a new contact. I jumped back into the core UI and dug up tables and got it working, but it turned out it is much easier with a nice UI in the Experience's advanced settings. Typical for me! On STRY0007, I was adding a pre-configured list filter to show me contacts to whom I have not yet out, reached (???). This is the main list of lists you see in the left hand nav and it's very common to want to change these. In the old UI it was a right click and a couple of records, but this one had me scratching my head even though I had done it before. I found my way back to the UX List table, which has more checkboxes than almost any form I have ever seen (Literally 1 Million Checkboxes https://lnkd.in/g9Nv7ivi), but hey, I'm not here to judge. Is there an easier way? Probably, but I couldn't find it so I don't care about an "easier" way, just as long as there is "a" way. Thanks MGOPW! #ServiceNow #ServiceNowDev #YIBL #BuildAlongMonth #UIBuilder https://lnkd.in/g65v22J8 https://lnkd.in/gKM3pi-i

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Every leader of a Tech Organization should strive for making that org better: More productive, more customer-focused, more fun to work in. 🌟 There is tons of things you can do (and equally many to avoid) when it comes to: ➡ structuring your org, ➡ aligning its teams around common goals, ➡ dealing with technical challenges, ➡ getting ready for leveraging AI, ➡ leading your org through changes. As also leadership is most fun when it's done together in a group, I will host a full-day workshop "How to Build and Run a Successful Tech Organization". 😃 In a group of like-minded tech leads we will discuss the above topics at Digitale Leute Summit 2024 in Cologne. A few spots are left. Get yours now at https://lnkd.in/dXyFnvGi (The discount code "DLS24JAN20" gives you 20% off. 😉) 🗓 14.11.2024 📍 STARTPLATZ Cologne ⌚ 9:00 - 17:00 Have a look at the several other amazingly valuable workshops as well: - Design Sprint for AI solutions with Markus Maass and Lars Becker - Product Discovery workshop with Frederik Vosberg and Timothy Krechel - OKR workshop with Christina Lange - Effective Product Strategy workshop with Tim Herbig - Masterclass on Team Topologies with Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais (Team Topologies) 🇺🇦 🇵🇸 from Team Topologies #dlsummit

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One of my favorite acronyms in #SoftwareEngineering is WTF - Where to Focus. When you have a small team you should focus as much energy as possible on the pieces that make your business competitive and buy everything else. I guarantee your cost estimate to justify building a tangential capability over buying it is missing a bunch of hidden cost factors.

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In the last episode of the Skip Podcast (https://lnkd.in/gM5QJk2j), I coach a product manager who is mid-career, looking for advice on applying to late-stage tech companies. I shared that joining a leadership role in big tech is very different than getting a more junior position. But most people use the same process and have similar expectations - find the biggest role with the most exciting project you can identify. Push hard and succeed, and then you’ll have a lot to show for your efforts. For leaders, I think this is the wrong approach which could get you fired. Roles with very high expectations require you to be productive and comfortable almost on day one. Sure, in your past when you had a small team or project, it was possible to quickly get your bearings and show impact. But the more senior the position, the broader the scope. And each project, team, and challenge requires time to understand before even considering suggesting taking action. You see the issue? The company has an opening on a hot project, you’re flattered to get the offer, you bet on yourself and take it. But you immediately need to have the answers, don’t have the context and six months later you’ve failed to meet expectations. Now you’re stuck and worst of all, might give up on a late-stage career. No wonder most companies stick to their tenured staff when selecting leaders, and why so few outside hires in leadership roles succeed. So how do you navigate this? Think of any leadership position in two phases: the starter role and the prime role. Select a role where you can exceed expectations. It might not be the most glamorous work the company is doing with the best peers and most glamorous manager. But it gives you time to really get your bearings, identify the right vocabulary to leverage your strengths, build the relationships you need to navigate challenges, and get back into a flow where your thinking aligns with how the company needs you to think.  Maybe that's 12-18 months. You might not get promoted but you'll start to get noticed. Then make an internal transition to that prime role. With a bit of tenure you’ll have access to roles not open to outsiders. You’ll start that role with far more context and relationships. Then you can really accelerate impact. The downside is it takes longer, a long term play requiring 3-5 years at the company to make this double jump. But I don’t think you should look for a quick hit if joining a large, complex company with thousands of people. You need time to learn the right lessons, and I think this advice could shift how you approach roles at companies you're considering.

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I'm often asked about the difference between full-time and fractional product work. Here's one of the things I always tell folks -- fractional is all about impact, impact, impact 🔥 This means that the ability to develop context quickly, ramp up (and get educated) around new problem spaces & industries and sniff out potential challenges for a product and team are crucial...and also what makes the role so damn fun and dynamic. Side-note: This is not to say this isn’t the case with full-time work. The best full-time folks certainly adopt this mindset. But I know this to be *particularly* the case with fractional work and what you should expect when working with a stellar fractional professional.

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Does anyone else remember sitting in class thinking, "Am I ever going to actually use this?" 🤦‍♂️ I still ask myself this weekly when reading blog posts, listening to podcasts, catching up on massive Slack threads, or diving into documentation and feature listings. I don't always use the info, but it feels great when a memory from six months ago suddenly becomes relevant. I always think of that original Jurassic Park Unix scene. This often happens when discussing DevOps and Serverless, where boundaries blur already. Trying to keep all of the AWS documentation in my head while discussing the design of new features and optimizations feels like a superhuman task. What are some things you wish you had remembered when solving an issue or problem? For me, we designed a Lambda function to fail purposefully instead of attempting to recover for efficiency. Unfortunately, the Lambda control plane self-throttles a function once a failure threshold is reached... slowing our processing to a crawl and forcing some quick code changes. 😅 #AWS #lambda #serverless #learninginpublic #hugops

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Crisis doesn’t create leaders—𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 When everything’s on fire, the best leaders don’t just fix the problem—they manage the panic. My years as an engineer and manager at Amazon taught me a thing or two (or a million?) about how to stay calm during high severity incidents. Here’s how to keep your cool when it feels like things are on fire: 1️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿: Ground decisions in data and resist the urge to react emotionally. Emotional reactions add fuel to the fire—facts will guide you out. 2️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 & 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆: In times of crisis, silence breeds confusion. Keep your team updated with short, actionable updates to maintain clarity. Include timelines, customer impact, and next steps. 3️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗹𝘆: Not everything can be solved at once. Identify the biggest impact areas and tackle them first. Write out a list of questions you need to answer, prioritize based on impact, and start from the top. 4️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲: Don’t hesitate to engage and bring in additional support. Trust your team to handle key pieces of the incident. High-pressure moments are when autonomy shines. Leading through high-severity incidents isn't just about technical expertise—it's about maintaining composure under pressure. Calm leadership inspires trust, clarity, and results. Stay calm, lead strong, and watch your team follow suit. 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: How do you think about leading thru stressful times? Tell me in the comments. ⤵ ---- ♻️ Repost and share these leadership tips ➕ Follow me, Ashley V., for more 📲 Book an anonymous coaching session

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You know there's some momentum happening if Marty Cagan decides to write about a product topic you've been at work trying to enable for years. Love to see it, and BIG shout out to Stacey Langer for providing her expertise in this article! 🧘‍♀️ Here are a few other pros that came to mind for the product model: 1. The government product model makes product (public) value and risk management possible. Product risks—such as value, desirability, viability, and feasibility—are not risks that traditional project management models can effectively manage. Government agencies interact with the public through the services they offer, but government digital experiences are not always inherently valuable. It’s what these digital services do for users that create individual and public value. Building tech alone ≠ value. 2. Evidence-driven decision-making uses discovery, iterative delivery, and testing with actual end users, where you continuously learn. This enables many things, mainly building with your users while validating the solution direction. It can also enable an incremental funding option specifically for products/services (traditionally called ‘projects’) that are especially complex, high priority, and/or contain many unknowns. 3. Driving technology from a place of vision and strategy measured in outcomes that can align and even influence policy changes. 🤸‍♀️ Some realities in trying to adopt a product model in gov: 1. The word ‘product’ often can be confusing, especially when it doesn’t fully represent what is being built and managed. A lot, if not most, of the technology work happening in government often involves solving service design challenges. So, in gov products, you focus on solving for the end-to-end experience, which can mean processes and non-tech things. 2. Conway’s Law and government systems replicate the organizational structures in agencies, which are often siloed and isolated. This is often represented as 'legacy tech.' Much of the work in 'product' in government is modernizing legacy systems, which requires the same principles as the product model but often a different emphasis on its varied approaches. Not all products or digital services start from the same place; many are not greenfield. 3. Traditional ATO structures can stop the product operating model in its tracks. To overcome this, it is important to integrate the ATO into the product model, utilizing a ‘continuous ATO’ operating model. But see point 2 above. At the end of the day, the product model isn’t a process you learn to implement and then just implement. It’s not just ‘Agile’ or Scrum or DevOps. Those methods can (or sometimes can’t) enable the product model. It's a mentality and discipline for continuously using new inputs to deliver value throughout a product's LIFE. It's a cultural change as much as an operating change, and there is no 'single way' to do it. However, operating from product thinking principles can help us start from the right place.

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