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I realize this isn't really the main point of the article, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot recently: Can someone explain to me why I should wa

I realize this isn't really the main point of the article, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot recently: Can someone explain to me why I should want to become good at management? I think most people on here (but sadly few company structures) would agree that engineering and engineering management are two nearly orthogonal skillsets, but for some reason we insist on "promoting" people who are good at the former into positions that require the latter. As someone with about five years of experience as a professional software engineer, I'm really still looking to level up my IC chops, along with a healthy dose of mentorship (mentoring interns or new hires on my team) and what I'd call "tech leadership" (advising on engineering reviews, making technical decisions about how to best build things). I would basically worry about stunting my development as an engineer if I switched to focusing on management, and I'm not even convinced my role models for career development are really in primarily "managerial" roles (I'm thinking of both famously very good backend devs both at my company and at the big SV companies). Separately, I have relatively little interest in being in a role where my output is judged as the output of a team of people who aren't me. I get that that's the best way to judge managers, and that managers do very valuable intangible things in unblocking their team, but I'm skeptical that I'd be able to feel satisfied by this. If anything, it kind of feels random: at an equivalent level of my unblocking the team and being a good manager, if I have an amazing 10x engineer on my team then the output is just going to be higher than if I have an average engineer. So in less clear-cut cases, how can I tell if I just did a good job at unblocking or if my engineers are really good? (This is not to say that I don't feel satisfied doing mentorship-style things or architectural advising-style things, but that feels separate to me. I think I prefer empowering other engineers by leveraging knowledge and writing good platforms/tools/APIs rather than doing the organizational empowering thing). I write all these things, because it really seems like a foregone conclusion of both this article and the industry as a whole that an engineer will eventually become a manager. Is that what I most likely have to look forward to in my career if I wind up working at the well-established/mature companies? EDIT: I'd also just appreciate being told if I'm thinking about everything entirely wrong or something here. EDIT2: This also isn't to knock people who _do_ enjoy doing these things, but it's not for me and I imagine it's not definitionally for every good engineer. ----- Unrelated to the above, point 8 feels a little bit in contradiction to point 1. How does one keep learning their craft without direct experience?

SatvikBeri 8y ago
> I think most people on here (but sadly few company structures) would agree that engineering and engineering management are two nearly orthogonal skillsets, but for some reason we insist on "promoting" people who are good at the former into positions that require the latter. I don't think they're orthogonal skillsets. A major part of management (arguably the most important part) is helping your team improve their skills, which works much better if you're a skilled engineer yourself. > I would basically worry about stunting my development as an engineer if I switched to focusing on management, and I'm not even convinced my role models for career development are really in primarily "managerial" roles (I'm thinking of both famously very good backend devs both at my company and at the big SV companies). Yes, becoming a manager will stunt your growth as a developer. > Separately, I have relatively little interest in being in a role where my output is judged as the output of a team of people who aren't me. I get that that's the best way to judge managers, and that managers do very valuable intangible things in unblocking their team, but I'm skeptical that I'd be able to feel satisfied by this. You probably wouldn't enjoy managing then. > I write all these things, because it really seems like a foregone conclusion of both this article and the industry as a whole that an engineer will eventually become a manager. Is that what I most likely have to look forward to in my career if I wind up working at the well-established/mature companies? Definitely not. Most big companies have separate technical and management tracks, and most developers shouldn't go into management. > Can someone explain to me why I should want to become good at management? The major reasons to become a manager are: (1) you can have a much greater impact on the business as an Xth percentile manager than an Xth percentile engineer, or even an (X-20)th percentile manager; (2) you enjoy teaching and watching people grow; (3) you're more interested in causing good software to happen than you are in building it personally.
- indemnity 8y ago
  Great summary. Only reason I’m in a half technical role instead of still in SW dev track is my company and the industry in my location does not generally have good career paths while staying an IC, so for sake of my family I’m doing this for the doubled pay check to put us into financial independence. But I’d much rather be coding.
8y ago

SatvikBeri 8y ago

> I think most people on here (but sadly few company structures) would agree that engineering and engineering management are two nearly orthogonal skillsets, but for some reason we insist on "promoting" people who are good at the former into positions that require the latter. I don't think they're orthogonal skillsets. A major part of management (arguably the most important part) is helping your team improve their skills, which works much better if you're a skilled engineer yourself. > I would basically worry about stunting my development as an engineer if I switched to focusing on management, and I'm not even convinced my role models for career development are really in primarily "managerial" roles (I'm thinking of both famously very good backend devs both at my company and at the big SV companies). Yes, becoming a manager will stunt your growth as a developer. > Separately, I have relatively little interest in being in a role where my output is judged as the output of a team of people who aren't me. I get that that's the best way to judge managers, and that managers do very valuable intangible things in unblocking their team, but I'm skeptical that I'd be able to feel satisfied by this. You probably wouldn't enjoy managing then. > I write all these things, because it really seems like a foregone conclusion of both this article and the industry as a whole that an engineer will eventually become a manager. Is that what I most likely have to look forward to in my career if I wind up working at the well-established/mature companies? Definitely not. Most big companies have separate technical and management tracks, and most developers shouldn't go into management. > Can someone explain to me why I should want to become good at management? The major reasons to become a manager are: (1) you can have a much greater impact on the business as an Xth percentile manager than an Xth percentile engineer, or even an (X-20)th percentile manager; (2) you enjoy teaching and watching people grow; (3) you're more interested in causing good software to happen than you are in building it personally.

indemnity 8y ago
Great summary. Only reason I’m in a half technical role instead of still in SW dev track is my company and the industry in my location does not generally have good career paths while staying an IC, so for sake of my family I’m doing this for the doubled pay check to put us into financial independence. But I’d much rather be coding.

8y ago