3 ms·

Management should in some cases be its own career path instead of the default for good workers who get promoted. Good project management is a skill that we just

Management should in some cases be its own career path instead of the default for good workers who get promoted. Good project management is a skill that we just expect out of people who get promoted. The pay scale should change so good hackers, analysts, etc can get raises akin to getting promoted, and the same for project managers. Because a good manager should be able to cut out the feckless meetings, get people working where they are most productive, and make a good working environment.

bryananderson 9y ago
This is a great point—management really is its own skill. However, I think it’s also important that managers be skilled in the specialty that they oversee, especially if it is complex work like software development. I think that an excellent manager with no knowledge of software development (aside from attending an “agile summit” or something) would struggle to effectively manage a team of developers. That’s what makes software development management so hard: to be good at it, you have to be a good manager and a decent developer, which are completely orthogonal skills.
megy 9y ago
No, I don't want professional managers who are making decisions with no expertise in the actual business unit they are involved in. I have that problem at the moment.
perl4ever 9y ago
At an early age, people are divided into "nerds" and "jocks", but many of the top athletes in school are also the top students. Similarly, management and technical skills are often developed by different people, but some people are good at both. The trouble is just that there is a very limited supply of those who are excellent at both and even so it's difficult to keep up both kinds of skills. Promoting people who are good technically but don't turn out to be good managers is one pitfall, but another is not promoting people who are good technically, but would be more valuable as managers.

bryananderson 9y ago

This is a great point—management really is its own skill. However, I think it’s also important that managers be skilled in the specialty that they oversee, especially if it is complex work like software development. I think that an excellent manager with no knowledge of software development (aside from attending an “agile summit” or something) would struggle to effectively manage a team of developers. That’s what makes software development management so hard: to be good at it, you have to be a good manager and a decent developer, which are completely orthogonal skills.

megy 9y ago

No, I don't want professional managers who are making decisions with no expertise in the actual business unit they are involved in. I have that problem at the moment.

perl4ever 9y ago

At an early age, people are divided into "nerds" and "jocks", but many of the top athletes in school are also the top students. Similarly, management and technical skills are often developed by different people, but some people are good at both. The trouble is just that there is a very limited supply of those who are excellent at both and even so it's difficult to keep up both kinds of skills. Promoting people who are good technically but don't turn out to be good managers is one pitfall, but another is not promoting people who are good technically, but would be more valuable as managers.