Lessons from the other side: What your VP is actually thinking
summary
Argues that engineers must trade ground-truth for context with their VP and gives concrete payoffs: a 100‑person org reshuffles quarterly, ICs usually get ~30 minutes a quarter, and moving Slack AI launch up two months forces scope cuts (English‑only preview GA, no‑data storage) or a scrappy feature flag for one customer. Shows how senior IC reporting saved a near‑failed summit demo, how concrete estimates from Curtis Allen change exec decisions, and why regular, distilled status beats silence.
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chapters (9)
- 0:00Introduction
- 2:51Why leadership decisions feel random
- 5:21Hidden reality behind reorgs
- 8:28Disjoint knowledge between execs and ICs
- 11:53Ask VP for clarity
- 14:01Two-way communication channel
- 16:53IC-exec collaboration examples
- 22:52Common communication objections
- 24:13Conclusion and Q&A
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