# Lena Reinhard - How Will People Get Stuff Done?

EP-141 | April 17, 2023 | 56:09



Topics: Team Management, Engineering Culture


Robby has a chat with Executive and Leadership Coach, Lena Reinhard (she/her/hers), about how well-maintained software is supposed to serve a business’s goals and continuously improve not just reactively, the importance of organizations investing in their engineering team's skills, software as a team sport, strategies for managing technical debt, and so much more.



## Guest

**Lena Reinhard** — VP of Engineering, Travis CI

Engineering leader and speaker on team dynamics, organizational health, and building inclusive engineering cultures.



## Show Notes

Robby has a chat with Executive and Leadership Coach, Lena Reinhard (she/her/hers). Lena is a speaker, writer, and Founder of Lena Reinhard Leadership Coaching and Consulting. Previously, Lena served as the VP of Engineering with CircleCI and TravisCI, as well as the startup Founder and CEO of The Neighbourhoodie Software GmbH.

From Lena’s perspective, well-maintained software is supposed to serve a business’s goals and continuously improve not just reactively. She highlights the importance of organizations investing in their engineering team's skills. Lena will also talk about software as a team sport, strategies for managing technical debt, how technical debt is a loaded term, challenges teams have faced with micro-services, and what engineers might be encountering after teammates have been laid off. Tune in for that and so much more.

## Book Recommendations:

- [Into The Planet by Jill Heinerth](https://www.amazon.com/Into-Planet-Life-Cave-Diver/dp/0062691546)

## Helpful Links:

- [The lettuce pact 🥬  ](https://hypercontext.com/blog/management-skills/lettuce-pact-for-difficult-feedback)
- [https://twitter.com/lrnrd](https://twitter.com/lrnrd)
- [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenareinhard/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenareinhard/)

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## Frequently Asked Questions


### What does Lena Reinhard say about engineering team effectiveness?

Lena emphasizes that team effectiveness is about more than technical skills. She focuses on how organizational structures, communication patterns, and psychological safety directly impact a team's ability to maintain and improve software.


### How does Lena Reinhard approach building engineering culture?

Lena advocates for intentional culture-building through clear expectations, regular feedback loops, and creating environments where people feel safe to experiment and make mistakes. She sees culture as a key factor in software maintainability.





## Transcript