🤝 How to get traction on your proposals as a software engineer

Strategize your communication to get support

You had an idea. You worked hard on a proposal. You made it to the public and got some feedback. You brought it to the person who handles the engineering resources and can make it happen… but they rejected the idea.

You may think there is some critical aspect that invalidates the proposal. But you can't find it. It may not exist. Getting traction is much more than the technical proposal itself.

I remember reading "What does it look like to be a senior+ / staff software engineer?" from

Caleb Mellas

and I wanted to dive deeper into getting the buy-in for your idea. Here are my conclusions.

🏆 Takeaways

• How to build the idea with a visibility-first mindset.

• How to execute your written communication.

• How to drive your review and decision-making meetings.

👀 Adopt the visibility mindset

Everything starts with an idea. First, the idea has to make sense. I have written about aligning your actions with your company's goals. We'll assume here that your idea is aligned.

If you don’t have any idea, start exploring a…