How One Engineering Manager Stopped Her Team's Death March

What this episode covers

In this episode of Tech Leadership with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dissect a real-world case of a death march project that nearly destroyed a team at a mid-size SaaS company. They walk through the warning signs—crunch mode lasting more than two sprints, diminishing returns on overtime, and silenced dissent—and then discuss the intervention that reversed it: a radical scope-shedding exercise called 'trim the tree.' Lucas explains how the engineering manager used a simple prioritization matrix to cut 60% of planned features without losing the core customer promise, and how she rebuilt trust with stakeholders by making trade-offs visible. The episode also touches on the sunk-cost fallacy, the difference between heroic effort and effective work, and why the best leadership move is sometimes to say 'we cannot do this by the deadline.' For engineering managers facing their own death march, this episode offers a playbook for stopping the spiral. #DeathMarch #EngineeringManager #ScopeCreep #CrunchMode #TeamBurnout #Prioritization #TrimTheTree #SunkCostFallacy #StakeholderManagement #TechLeadership #SoftwareEngineering #ProjectManagement #EngineeringCulture #ManagerTools #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Technology #Leadership Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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