Navigators: Connecting execs with StaffPlus engineers to shape strategy

Navigators are senior ICs (not managers) who help teams apply engineering strategy and make technical decisions while maintaining alignment with company direction

Written engineering strategy combined with dedicated Navigators reduces reliance on consensus and accelerates decision-making by providing clear principles and accountable decision makers

Navigators don’t own the strategy - they interpret it, help apply it locally, and identify when escalation is needed for decisions that exceed their scope

Each team is in scope for exactly one Navigator to ensure clear accountability, while preventing too many Navigators which could make alignment harder

Strategy should reflect current organizational reality rather than aspirational wishes - document the principles actually driving decisions today

“It depends” answers should be backed by strategic principles that help teams understand the key dependencies and trade-offs

Navigators maintain close relationships with both engineering teams and executives, acting as a bridge to shape and evolve strategy based on real implementation experience

The approach works better than committees because it pushes decision-making to where the context exists rather than forcing context to be brought to a central group

Written strategy makes alignment issues visible and gives engineers clear guidance without needing to constantly relitigate fundamental principles

Start small - strategy can begin with just a slice of the organization and evolve incrementally as learnings emerge from applying it in practice