Navigating Rapid Change: Skills to Cultivate Resilience, Adaptability & Creativity in Engineering Teams w/ Melody Meckfessel #206

The Engineering Leadership Podcast

ABOUT MELODY MECKFESSEL

Melody Meckfessel is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Jasper.ai, the world’s leading AI marketing platform. In her role, Melody shapes the technical vision of the company, oversees product delivery, and spearheads AI research to develop new capabilities that accelerate business outcomes for enterprise marketers.

Before joining Jasper.ai, Melody co-founded and served as CEO of Observable, a data visualization platform that empowers teams to understand their businesses through data. She also spent over a decade at Google as Vice President of Engineering, where she led core infrastructure, Search, and DevOps teams for Google and Google Cloud Platform, impacting millions of users worldwide.

Melody is recognized for her hands-on approach to engineering leadership and her expertise in building large-scale distributed systems. Her work is crucial in solving complex problems at scale for enterprise companies. She is passionate about defining the future of work with AI, where humans come first.

This episode is brought to you by Clipboard Health

Clipboard Health is looking for the next generation of exceptional software engineering leaders, not just managers. They’re a profitable unicorn, backed by top-tier investors, and they take the craft of engineering management seriously.

Clipboard Health matches highly qualified healthcare workers with nearby facilities to fulfill millions of shifts a year - revolutionizing healthcare staffing with a fast, flexible, and user-friendly platform.

Learn more & browse their open roles at clipboardhealth.com/engineering

SHOW NOTES:

• Melody’s perspective on the tech industry’s rapid rate of change right now (2:53)
• Critical questions to guide investment decisions on “what to build & how“ in a rapidly evolving market (5:57)
• Strategies for navigating rapid change internally within eng teams (10:07)
• What it means to be an AI-first engineering organization (12:30)
• Changes in goals, metrics, and processes to shape your org and guide you through rapid change (15:33)
• Developing agile communication processes (18:39)
• Navigating ambiguity as a learned skill - practical ways to strengthen your ability to navigate uncertainty (20:09)
• Implementing a framework of curiosity & openness within eng teams (22:40)
• Why great things can’t be planned (26:21)
• Becoming dynamic and resilient - how to thrive amid uncertainty and constant industry shifts (28:57)
• How to shift from prescriptive to inspirational - using illustrated inspiration to empower teams (32:00)
• Breaking through self-imposed limitations - understanding where eng leaders may limit themselves (33:48)
• Melody’s perspective on fostering a culture of creativity within eng teams (35:06)
• Rapid fire questions (37:13)

LINKS AND RESOURCES

• The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO - John McMahon shares valuable lessons for sales leaders and sales reps selling enterprise software solutions. In a conversational and easy to read narrative style, this must-read book provides learnings on how sales leaders can help their reps sell more for higher average deal sizes to executive level buyers.

This episode wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:

Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-Host

Jerry Li - Co-Host

Noah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/

Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan’s also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/

Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/