HLAs, an Engineer’s Perspective for Impact

Every year, I make it a point to find an industry-standard course or activity that deepens my insight, knowledge, or experience in software engineering. Over the past three years, I've attended some interesting conferences. This year, my manager emphasized the yearly budget available for career training and improvement, so I set out to find something beneficial—a course that would challenge me to think differently and push me beyond technical skills into leadership, influence, and strategic thinking.

After some searching (rather minimal searching), I found Principal.dev—a course designed for senior engineers and emerging tech leads who want to further their impact beyond code and other technicalities. The two-day program was packed with powerful insights and frameworks. We covered topics ranging from "outside-the-box" thinking and higher-level activities (HLAs) to agile methodologies and hiring strategies.

While every topic offered something valuable, HLAs—Higher Level Activities—stood out as the most transformative idea.

What We Covered

One recurring theme was how to operate at a higher level of thinking—moving from purely technical execution to understanding and influencing systems and outcomes. The lesson explained how being more engaged in the product and industry context can enhance this understanding. One of the key issues that developers face is influence and power. Engaging in the product

In agile discussions, we explored ideas like throughput (how much work gets done) and cycle time (how long it takes for an idea to move from concept to production). It's easy to see these as just numbers, but when framed correctly, they reveal bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement—something anyone on the team can help with, regardless of title.

We also touched on outside-the-box thinking—the idea that impact doesn't only come from doing what's in your job description, but often from stepping back to ask, "What's the biggest problem I can solve right now?"

Then came HLAs—a framework for identifying and executing impactful, non-obvious activities that move the business forward.

The Power of HLAs (Higher Level Activities)

At its core, HLAs (a term coined by the instructor of the course for the purpose of this specific domain) are about choosing to work on things that create leverage—activities that have a compounding effect on your team's or company's success.

They're not about doing more work, but about doing the right kind of work.

For example, instead of spending another afternoon fine-tuning a small UI detail, you might:

• As a junior engineer: Write a clear setup guide for onboarding new developers. You've reduced friction and saved others hours of confusion.
• As a mid-level engineer: Identify a recurring production issue and propose an automated solution or process change that prevents it entirely. You've improved reliability and freed up your team's time.
• As a senior engineer or tech lead: Recognize that unclear requirements are slowing the team down. You collaborate with product managers to improve the planning process. You didn't write a line of code—but you just increased your team's throughput.

HLAs are about lifting your head from the keyboard to see the system around you—and then asking, "What can I do to make this system work better?"

Impact at Every Level

One myth in engineering is that you need authority to make meaningful change. You don't.

• Associates and junior engineers can start by improving documentation, automating manual tasks, or identifying inefficiencies in the development process. These actions don't require permission—just initiative.
• Mid-level engineers can focus on mentorship, tooling improvements, or reducing technical debt in ways that align with business priorities.
• Senior engineers and managers can look for cross-team blockers, define clearer processes, or help translate business goals into technical strategies.

Every level has its own version of HLAs. The key is identifying where your actions can create the most leverage.

A Broader Takeaway

This course reminded me that leadership isn't about title—it's about perspective.

It's about asking, "How can I make things better, faster, or easier for others?"

HLAs aren't limited to senior engineers or managers. They're available to anyone willing to think beyond their task list and look at the bigger picture.

If every engineer, regardless of level, thought this way, we'd not only improve our companies' bottom line—we'd make our work more meaningful, impactful, and rewarding.

In short:

Don't just ask, "What's my task today?"Ask, "What's the most impactful thing I can do to move the system forward?"

That's the essence of HLAs—and the mindset shift that turns good engineers into great ones.