Mateusz Grabowski

Mateusz Grabowski, as VP of Internal Engineering at SmartRecruiters, leads the Platform Engineering organization that powers the platform used by almost half a billion job applicants. A strategic leader, and a ‘Swiss Army knife’ known for his ability to deliver complex, multi-dimensional initiatives and drive transformational changes in culture and operations to accelerate growth and productivity. Mateusz’s expertise in scalable platform development and agile methodologies empowers organizations to achieve business outcomes and embrace change. With a background in software engineering, his interests and impact have expanded to include areas like Architecture, Developer Experience, SRE, Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Security, and Executive Leadership.

Charting the Strategic Waters: From Pancakes to Clear Paths

Have you ever felt lost navigating organizational strategy? I have. My own journey began among confusing “planning pancakes” meaning navigating between mission, vision, strategy, goals and roadmaps, often mistaking aspirations for true direction. This initial ambiguity frequently led to unnecessary cognitive load and a lack of clear focus.

More clarity emerged through Richard Rumelt's principles from his books which provided profound insights into what a good strategy actually is. Good strategy does much more than simply urge progress toward a goal or vision. The real “a-ha” moment lies in the "kernel” of a strategy. Applying these principles in our organization was an educating journey that I’d like to share - it included answering questions on how to manage technical debt, balance the build/buy/partner decisions and improve operational policies.

As our journey continues, we observe the transformative power of this structured strategic approach, aimed at accelerating engineering with reduced extraneous cognitive load across teams. We’ve learned a lot through our failures and wins. By sharing our experiences and insights, I’d like to empower all kinds of organizational members – from executives to individual contributors – to better navigate their strategic waters and contribute to a more focused and effective organization.