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I also think a good manager can double or quadruple the effectiveness of their entire team Another way of thinking about this: Managing people really well is r

I also think a good manager can double or quadruple the effectiveness of their entire team Another way of thinking about this: Managing people really well is really hard. Most managers are not the best managers. Average managers often end up doing things that reduce the output of their group in the interest of things not going horribly wrong. The Pareto distribution rears its ugly head, once again.

toomuchtodo 9y ago
I wish I had more than one upvote. If you have no management experience, and no mentorship in managing, you have no business managing people. Managing requires empathy and a desire to help your subordinates level up, not SWE skills. Your job is to deliver value to the org and to your individual contributors in equal parts. At least as a software developer, you're only breaking code. But you start affecting people's lives, emotional well being, and career paths when you're a manager, and I find it rare where a manager understands this.
- myth_drannon 9y ago
  This is a big problem in startups. Developers with very little to nothing of not only management experience but even development experience become VPofE/Directors/CTOs and wreak psychological havoc on people they are supposed to manage. Sometimes they do it on purpose because of insecurities or many times just unintentionally.
  - hfourm 9y ago
    Usually the bigger problem there isn't as much the individuals, but why the startup needed that role to begin with. A lot of times early companies will go through the motions of, "needing" a VP of Engineering, or CTO, or whatever. In reality their process does not need that, and those roles are either meaningless titles at best or cause unnecessary process to crop up and hinder productivity.
- Froyoh 9y ago
  How about team lead?
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Team lead is acceptable as it's more of a servant leadership relationship, and under the right circumstances, a team lead should be able to grow into a full blown manager role.
    - ChuckMcM 9y ago
      I am a big fan of 'trying out' future managers in the team leader role.
- cname 9y ago
  This perfectly articulates something I tried to get across to upper management last time we hired a manager for our team. It seems so obvious and reasonable, but they wouldn't hear it. So, we ended up hiring someone who not only had no real management experience but who also didn't particularly _want_ to be a manager, instead preferring to write code. This created conflict exactly as you'd expect and team morale fell apart, projects slipped, etc. Of course, management takes no responsibility for this, instead diffusing blame to employees via suck-it-up type platitudes (couched in "nicer" language but with that essential meaning).

toomuchtodo 9y ago

I wish I had more than one upvote. If you have no management experience, and no mentorship in managing, you have no business managing people. Managing requires empathy and a desire to help your subordinates level up, not SWE skills. Your job is to deliver value to the org and to your individual contributors in equal parts. At least as a software developer, you're only breaking code. But you start affecting people's lives, emotional well being, and career paths when you're a manager, and I find it rare where a manager understands this.

myth_drannon 9y ago
This is a big problem in startups. Developers with very little to nothing of not only management experience but even development experience become VPofE/Directors/CTOs and wreak psychological havoc on people they are supposed to manage. Sometimes they do it on purpose because of insecurities or many times just unintentionally.
- hfourm 9y ago
  Usually the bigger problem there isn't as much the individuals, but why the startup needed that role to begin with. A lot of times early companies will go through the motions of, "needing" a VP of Engineering, or CTO, or whatever. In reality their process does not need that, and those roles are either meaningless titles at best or cause unnecessary process to crop up and hinder productivity.
Froyoh 9y ago
How about team lead?
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Team lead is acceptable as it's more of a servant leadership relationship, and under the right circumstances, a team lead should be able to grow into a full blown manager role.
  - ChuckMcM 9y ago
    I am a big fan of 'trying out' future managers in the team leader role.
cname 9y ago
This perfectly articulates something I tried to get across to upper management last time we hired a manager for our team. It seems so obvious and reasonable, but they wouldn't hear it. So, we ended up hiring someone who not only had no real management experience but who also didn't particularly _want_ to be a manager, instead preferring to write code. This created conflict exactly as you'd expect and team morale fell apart, projects slipped, etc. Of course, management takes no responsibility for this, instead diffusing blame to employees via suck-it-up type platitudes (couched in "nicer" language but with that essential meaning).