Psychology and Technical Leadership: An Unexpected Combination
After many years leading engineering teams, I made an unusual decision: I enrolled in an MSc in Psychology. It wasn't a career change — it was career enhancement. Here's what I learned about leading technical teams from studying the human mind.
Why Psychology?
Technical leaders often focus on the technical. Architecture. Code quality. Tooling. These matter enormously. But after years in the industry, I realized that the hardest problems weren't technical at all.
They were human.
- Why does this team struggle to deliver while that one excels?
- Why do some engineers thrive under pressure while others crumble?
- How do you give feedback that actually changes behavior?
- Why do organizational changes so often fail?
Psychology offered answers.
Key Insights
1. Cognitive Load is Real
Psychology teaches us that working memory is limited. We can hold roughly 7±2 items in working memory at once. What does this mean for tech leadership?
- Code complexity matters — Complex code exhausts cognitive resources
- Meeting overload kills productivity — Context switching has real costs
- Clear documentation isn't optional — It offloads cognitive burden
- Onboarding takes time — New joiners are building mental models from scratch
2. Motivation is Intrinsic
Decades of research show that for creative work (like software engineering), intrinsic motivation beats extrinsic motivation. What drives engineers?
- Autonomy — Control over how they work
- Mastery — Opportunities to grow and improve
- Purpose — Connection to meaningful outcomes
Bonuses and threats don't create great software. Engaged, motivated engineers do.
3. Psychological Safety Enables Performance
Google's Project Aristotle found that the strongest predictor of team performance was psychological safety — the belief that you won't be punished for making mistakes.
As a tech lead, this means:
- Admitting when you don't know something
- Treating failures as learning opportunities
- Encouraging questions, especially "dumb" ones
- Protecting team members from blame culture
4. Feedback Requires Skill
The intention behind feedback doesn't determine its impact. Psychology teaches us:
- Timing matters — Feedback closest to the behavior is most effective
- Specificity matters — "Good job" is useless; specific observations drive change
- Relationship matters — Feedback from trusted sources lands differently
- Framing matters — Growth-oriented feedback beats judgment
5. Change is Resisted by Default
Our brains are wired to conserve energy. Change requires effort. New processes, new tools, new team structures — all face the same psychological resistance.
Understanding this helps:
- Start small to reduce perceived threat
- Make the new way easier than the old way
- Acknowledge the loss that comes with change
- Build coalitions of early adopters
Practical Applications
Better One-on-Ones
Psychology taught me to:
- Ask open questions and really listen
- Notice non-verbal cues
- Separate the person from the behavior
- Create space for difficult conversations
More Effective Retrospectives
Understanding group dynamics helps:
- Structure prevents dominant voices from taking over
- Anonymous input surfaces honest feedback
- Action items need owners and deadlines
- Follow-through builds trust in the process
Hiring Differently
Psychology research on prediction shows that:
- Structured interviews beat unstructured ones
- Past behavior predicts future behavior
- Diverse interview panels reduce bias
- Technical skills can be taught; attitude is harder to change
The Unexpected Benefit
Studying psychology didn't just make me a better leader. It made me more comfortable with uncertainty. Humans are complex. Teams are complex. Organizations are complex.
Embracing that complexity, rather than fighting it, is liberating.
The Integration
I didn't finish the MSc — life and career had other plans. But the investment has paid dividends every day since. Technical excellence and human understanding aren't competing priorities. They're complementary.
The best technical leaders I know understand both the system and the people who build it.
Interested in the intersection of psychology and technology leadership? I find this topic endlessly fascinating. Get in touch.