A lightweight framework for making career growth concrete — for engineers, managers, and teams.
---
title: "The Ripple Effect — Impact Spreading Outward"
---
graph LR
You["You<br/>━━━<br/>The source"] -->|"work spreads"| R1["Ring 1<br/>━━━<br/>Core"]
R1 -->|"helps others"| R2["Ring 2<br/>━━━<br/>Team"]
R2 -->|"owns areas"| R3["Ring 3<br/>━━━<br/>Domain"]
R3 -->|"shapes culture"| R4["Ring 4<br/>━━━<br/>Organization"]
style You fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style R1 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style R2 fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
style R3 fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
style R4 fill:#f5f5f5,stroke:#95a5a6,stroke-width:2px
The Ripple Effect Model (REM) maps how individual impact grows outward. Like a stone dropped in water, your work starts at the center and spreads out — from your own tasks, to your team, to your whole domain, to the organization.
It answers a question most engineers hit at some point:
"My manager says I'm doing well. But what does the next level actually look like in practice?"
REM gives you a concrete answer for any topic you care about.
---
title: "What REM Answers"
---
graph TB
Q["The question<br/>━━━<br/>What does the next level<br/>actually look like?"] --> REM["Ripple Effect Model<br/>━━━<br/>Maps impact per topic"]
REM --> T1["Topic A<br/>━━━<br/>Ring 2"]
REM --> T2["Topic B<br/>━━━<br/>Ring 1"]
REM --> T3["Topic C<br/>━━━<br/>Ring 3"]
style Q fill:#ffe5e5,stroke:#c0392b,stroke-width:2px
style REM fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
style T1 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style T2 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style T3 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
- Engineers who want to grow but don't know what to do differently
- Managers who want consistent, fair conversations about growth
- Teams trying to define what "senior" or "staff" means in real work, not just titles
- New hires learning what success looks like over time
---
title: "Who Uses REM"
---
graph TB
REM["Ripple Effect Model"] --> E["Engineers<br/>━━━<br/>Grow without<br/>guessing what to do"]
REM --> M["Managers<br/>━━━<br/>Fair and consistent<br/>growth conversations"]
REM --> T["Teams<br/>━━━<br/>Define what senior<br/>means in real work"]
REM --> N["New hires<br/>━━━<br/>Learn what success<br/>looks like over time"]
style REM fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
style E fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style M fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
style T fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style N fill:#f5f5f5,stroke:#95a5a6,stroke-width:2px
| File | What it contains |
|---|---|
| 010-ripple_effect_model.md | The full REM framework: four rings, the Impact Plan method, worked examples, and writing guidelines |
| 020-impact-plan-template.md | A blank template to build your own Impact Plan |
---
title: "Repository Contents"
---
graph TB
Repo["Ripple Effect Model<br/>━━━<br/>Repository"] --> F1["010-ripple_effect_model.md<br/>━━━<br/>Full framework - four rings,<br/>Impact Plan method, examples"]
Repo --> F2["020-impact-plan-template.md<br/>━━━<br/>Blank template to build<br/>your own Impact Plan"]
style Repo fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
style F1 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style F2 fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
For yourself: Read 010-ripple_effect_model.md, pick two or three topics you want to grow in, and use 020-impact-plan-template.md to build your Impact Plans. Bring them to your 1-on-1s.
For your team: Copy and adapt this repo. Replace the example with your team's real topics. Fill in the template for each person. Use it in quarterly reviews.
For managers: The framework is not a performance review replacement. It's a shared language for growth conversations. Use it alongside your existing review process.
---
title: "How to Use REM"
---
graph TB
subgraph Self["For yourself"]
direction TB
S1["Read the framework"] --> S2["Pick 2-3 topics"] --> S3["Build Impact Plans"] --> S4["Bring to 1-on-1s"]
end
subgraph Team["For your team"]
direction TB
T1["Copy and adapt"] --> T2["Replace examples<br/>with real topics"] --> T3["Use in quarterly reviews"]
end
subgraph Mgr["For managers"]
direction TB
M1["Shared language<br/>for growth conversations"] --> M2["Alongside existing<br/>review process"]
end
style S1 fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style S2 fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style S3 fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style S4 fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style T1 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style T2 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style T3 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style M1 fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
style M2 fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
| Ring | Name | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Ring 1 | Core | Doing your own work well |
| Ring 2 | Team | Helping the people around you |
| Ring 3 | Domain | Owning a whole area of work |
| Ring 4 | Organization | Changing how the whole company works |
You don't have one ring. You have a ring per topic, and they can all be different.
---
title: "The Four Rings at a Glance"
---
graph LR
You["You<br/>━━━<br/>The center"] --> R1["Ring 1 — Core<br/>━━━<br/>Doing your own<br/>work well"]
R1 --> R2["Ring 2 — Team<br/>━━━<br/>Helping the people<br/>around you"]
R2 --> R3["Ring 3 — Domain<br/>━━━<br/>Owning a whole<br/>area of work"]
R3 --> R4["Ring 4 — Organization<br/>━━━<br/>Changing how the<br/>whole company works"]
style You fill:#95e1d3,stroke:#16a085,stroke-width:2px
style R1 fill:#e5ffe5,stroke:#388e3c,stroke-width:2px
style R2 fill:#fff9c4,stroke:#f57f17,stroke-width:2px
style R3 fill:#e3f2fd,stroke:#0066cc,stroke-width:2px
style R4 fill:#f5f5f5,stroke:#95a5a6,stroke-width:2px
MIT — use it, adapt it, share it. See LICENSE.
Ideas, fixes, and real-world examples are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.