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Ask HN: What does it mean when managers start making all the tech decisions?
Recently I've noticed technical decisions at my company have been moved from developers to managers. Developers only fulfill the desire of the managers instead of setting the path and carrying it out.
Never before have I seen this model. What does it mean?
- icedchai 8y agoIt means you should start looking for a new job.
- anoncoward111 8y agoIt means that the board of directors and majority shareholders in the company are putting pressure on the key day-to-day executives of the company to produce certain results quickly. Typically this happens when the business isn't making enough money-- the majority investors feel that they can change the biz/product from the top down. I would suggest playing along for as long as you can and searching for a better job as a fallback. Out of curiosity, how many employees work for the company? Maybe 75, I'm guessing?
- BirdFlossing 8y agocloser to 150 actually.Thx
- anoncoward111 8y agoGood luck, it will be fine either way :) I'm employee #2 at a 5 person firm and we still have those problems sometimes ahha
- sidlls 8y agoWhere I work it's because the senior management in engineering consists of people who last held a development role over a decade ago, who value complete control over everything, and who don't trust anyone outside their little in group to make any technical decisions.
- CyberFonic 8y agoI presume you are implying that they have not kept their knowledge nor skills up to date. In which case I shudder to think of how their decisions fare in the current technical environment. In some slow moving industries, legacy systems are milked for all they are worth. Investments in new hardware and technologies are generally kept to a minimum. And ... the IT staff are actively looking for new jobs.
- CyberFonic 8y agoIt depends whether the managers are technically competent and up to date. If neither: then I'd recommend looking for another job as a matter of priority. Managers who get their knowledge from the teenage sons of their drinking buddies or from business magazines or, worse, IT sales people are like a manifestation of a Dilbert comic strip. If former technical guys, but not up to date, then it demands whether they even listen to the developers' input or make decisions based upon their out of date knowledge and experience. Finally, if both competent and up to date, then why haven't they been actively involved in the decision making up until now?