It Depends: Lessons in Technology Leadership

Mar 02 2025 31 ep. 31 mins 8
It Depends: Lessons in Technology Leadership Podcast artwork

Kevin Goldsmith serializes the audiobook for his new book, ”It Depends: Writing on Technology Leadership 2012-2022.” Sharing extra details about each chapter and answering listener questions along the way.

  Business  Technology  Education
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Building a technical career path at Spotify

Mar 02 2025 44 mins  
In this episode of the "It Depends" podcast, host Kevin Goldsmith shares his unique experience designing Spotify's engineering career framework. As the leader of this initiative, Kevin provides a behind-the-scenes look at how Spotify's distinct career pathing system was developed, a system that reinforced its unique engineering culture rather than undermining it. Kevin explains the

Changing Hiring Practices to Build a More Diverse Technology Organization

Feb 16 2025 36 mins  
Are your hiring practices unintentionally limiting diversity in your organization? In this episode of It Depends host Kevin Goldsmith explores the critical changes that can help technology companies build more inclusive and high-performing teams. Drawing on his experience scaling engineering teams, Kevin challenges conventional hiring biases—such as prioritizing certain universit

A diversity challenge: tech start-ups have a great opportunity

Feb 02 2025 21 mins  
As major tech companies retreat from their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, startups can lead the way. In this episode, Kevin Goldsmith explores why diverse teams consistently build better products and create stronger, more effective workplaces. He reflects on personal experiences in leadership, shares insights on how startups can leverage the "law of small numbers"

Building a Management Training Curriculum at Avvo

Jan 19 2025 29 mins  
In Episode 27 of It Depends: Lessons in Technology Leadership, Kevin Goldsmith explores the process of creating a management training curriculum at Avvo. Reflecting on his journey as a manager and lessons learned from his early days at Microsoft and Adobe, Kevin highlights the importance of intentional training for engineering managers. This episode delves into the innovative appro

Using Self-Selection to Create Journey Teams at Avvo

Jan 05 2025 47 mins  
In this insightful episode of The It Depends Podcast, host Kevin Goldsmith, seasoned CTO and author, takes listeners behind the scenes of his first CTO role at Avvo, a legal tech company. Kevin shares his real-world experience in transforming the organizational structure by introducing journey teams—an innovative approach influenced by, but distinct from, Spotify’s model. He di

Thoughts on emulating Spotify’s matrix organization in other companies

Dec 22 2024 44 mins  
In this episode of It Depends, host Kevin Goldsmith, a seasoned technology leader and CTO, explores the intricacies of Spotify's famed matrix organization model and its applicability to other companies. Drawing from his firsthand experiences at Spotify during its formative years, Kevin delves into the successes and challenges of implementing the Spotify model, addressing common mis

The Spotify model: how to create, dissolve, and remix teams to be more dynamic and more innovative

Dec 08 2024 30 mins  
In this episode of It Depends, host Kevin Goldsmith dives into Chapter 26 of his book It Depends: Writing on Technology Leadership 2012–2022. Kevin shares his firsthand experiences with the Spotify model—a revolutionary approach to team organization designed to foster agility, innovation, and collaboration. Drawing on his years at Spotify, Kevin explains how the model allows te

Transcript of my speech from OPEX Week Summer 2018

Nov 24 2024 24 mins  
Kevin Goldsmith, Chief Technology Officer and author of It Depends: Writing on Technology Leadership (2012–2022), shares a unique chapter from his audiobook in this episode of It Depends. Recorded on the road in Chicago, Kevin reflects on his unexpected journey into the Operational Excellence (OpEx) community, a world rooted in Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. Kevin recounts his

Hiring Agile Coaches

Nov 10 2024 35 mins  
In this episode of The It Depends Podcast, host Kevin Goldsmith dives into the intricacies of hiring agile coaches—a role he discovered while working at Spotify and which has been transformative in his approach to building high-performing teams. Kevin shares personal stories of successes and challenges with agile coaches across different companies, reflecting on how this role can

Management and Systems Thinking

Oct 27 2024 30 mins  
In this episode of It Depends host Kevin Goldsmith dives into the art of management through the lens of systems thinking. Using the metaphor of gardening, Kevin explores how leaders can “plant the seeds” for success by setting up the right environment, empowering teams, and stepping back to let growth happen organically. He shares practical insights on Kanban boards, the power