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Sorry, but this is just lame. A manager has a job to do, too, and whether or not they do it well, it is within their prerogative to add comments or suggestions,

Sorry, but this is just lame. A manager has a job to do, too, and whether or not they do it well, it is within their prerogative to add comments or suggestions, even if small, if they think it will improve a product. Put yourself in the manager's position (which ironically this article seems to attempt to do). Go further, suppose it is your company, not just your department. Are you going to let a product ship when something minor could be improved to make it even better? A sloppy manager might. Or one who doesn't care. This article almost seems to suggest that managers should care less. Attention to detail is what often separates good from excellent.

nostrademons 10y ago
I think the point is to avoid getting lost in the forest because you want to climb every tree. As part of a leadership training program I once did, we had a Q&A with an executive where we could ask him anything. One of the questions was "What was the most surprising thing about going from an individual contributor to a manager to an executive?" His answer was, "I learned that as you get higher up in the organization, oftentimes you need to seek a good solution rather than the best solution." Yes, this means that the product will be less excellent than it could be. Anyone who has used a big company's product can tell you that this is what actually happens. And yes, this leaves openings for big companies to get replaced by hungry little startups. But the alternative is for the big company to function like a startup that has a few thousand uncommitted people wandering around drawing a salary while providing input. Imagine working under those conditions as a founder; you won't get very much done, and people who work under those conditions in a big company don't get much done either. If you want the product to be excellent, go quit and make an excellent (if minimal) product. If you want to work with a lot of other people, then let them do their jobs.

nostrademons 10y ago

I think the point is to avoid getting lost in the forest because you want to climb every tree. As part of a leadership training program I once did, we had a Q&A with an executive where we could ask him anything. One of the questions was "What was the most surprising thing about going from an individual contributor to a manager to an executive?" His answer was, "I learned that as you get higher up in the organization, oftentimes you need to seek a good solution rather than the best solution." Yes, this means that the product will be less excellent than it could be. Anyone who has used a big company's product can tell you that this is what actually happens. And yes, this leaves openings for big companies to get replaced by hungry little startups. But the alternative is for the big company to function like a startup that has a few thousand uncommitted people wandering around drawing a salary while providing input. Imagine working under those conditions as a founder; you won't get very much done, and people who work under those conditions in a big company don't get much done either. If you want the product to be excellent, go quit and make an excellent (if minimal) product. If you want to work with a lot of other people, then let them do their jobs.