As technology leaders, we exist in an ever-changing ecosystem where the pace of change is continuously accelerating. The ability for organizations to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry environment depends on how effectively teams can scale learning curves for new technologies, skill sets, products and processes. But how can teams create a culture that embraces change and catalyzes learning?

This talk applies the learning zone model (Senninger 2000) as a framework for product and engineering teams, and discusses leadership strategies for building a sustainable culture of learning. We will explore the challenges and implications for technology and product leaders in cultivating cultures that enable teams to operate within the learning zone - the “sweet spot” between the comfort zone and the panic zone.

Whether it’s managing code ownership, managing who can change firewall rules, or monitoring spending on cloud services, engineering leaders spend a lot of time creating and running programs, but we rarely think of it that way. Having spent three years on SOX compliance, one of the most involved and complex programs you can imagine, I’ve learned a number of painful lessons and identified patterns that can be used to build programs of almost any kind.

This talk will help you recognize when you’re actually designing a program and create programs that engineers don’t hate.