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Peak, Plateau, Progress
How engineering managers can identify and overcome their leadership comfort zones
As managers, we all start our journey experimenting with different methods and evaluating what works best for our teams. Over time, however, there’s a significant risk of getting stuck in what we can call a “local maxima” — a comfort zone where we stop challenging our assumptions and become complacent with our current approach.
Through trial and error, we discover patterns and practices that yield consistent results. Our one-on-ones start following a reliable structure, our team meetings become more predictable, and we develop a rhythm in handling conflicts and challenges. This predictability, combined with steady results, leads us to believe we’ve mastered our craft. The infrequent nature of formal feedback — typically through quarterly surveys or annual reviews — rarely challenges this perception. We settle into our methods, comfortable with the stability we’ve achieved.
But this comfort can be deceptive. Just as a mountain climber might mistake a lower peak for the summit, we might be operating well below our potential. There could be better approaches, more effective techniques, or innovative methods that we’re missing simply because we’ve stopped actively seeking them. Our reliable but rigid patterns might be…
