Engineering Enablement by Abi Noda

What parts of the Spotify Squad Model were challenging, and advice for leadings considering adopting the model.

Show Notes

This week’s guest is Jeremiah Lee, who was previously a manager at Stripe and product manager at Spotify. This conversation focuses on org structure, and specifically Jeremiah’s experience with the popular squad model from Spotify. Jeremiah provides the backstory on where the model came from, what parts of the model were a challenge, and advice for leaders either already adopting the model or considering doing so.

Discussion points:

(1:40) What the Spotify model is
(4:39) Jeremiah’s impression of the Spotify model as he joined the company
(7:29) Spotify’s progress in adopting the model as Jeremiah joined
(9:55) Challenges with matrix management
(12:02) The role of engineering managers 
(14:40) What the model was designed to solve 
(15:54) Good autonomy versus toxic autonomy 
(18:51) How Agile coaches were used at Spotify 
(21:39) Advice for teams who are struggling to implement the Spotify model
(24:50) Advice for leaders who are starting to think about org design
(27:30) How Stripe approached org structure 
(30:26) How org structure affects a platform team’s work 
(33:32) Tracking engineering org structures 
(36:02) Why the squad model became so popular
(39:37) What the original authors may have felt about the popularity of the model

Mentions and links: 
Follow Jeremiah on LinkedIn
Jeremiah’s Spotify’s Failed #SquadGoals
The original whitepaper on the Spotify model: Scaling Agile at Spotify
Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais
Essential Scrum by Kenneth S. Rubin

Creators & Guests

Host
Abi Noda
Abi is the founder and CEO of DX (getdx.com), which helps engineering leaders measure and improve developer experience. Abi formerly founded Pull Panda, which was acquired by GitHub.

What is Engineering Enablement by Abi Noda?

This is a weekly podcast focused on developer productivity and the teams and leaders dedicated to improving it. Topics include in-depth interviews with Platform and DevEx teams, as well as the latest research and approaches on measuring developer productivity. The EE podcast is hosted by Abi Noda, the founder and CEO of DX (getdx.com) and published researcher focused on developing measurement methods to help organizations improve developer experience and productivity.