3 ms·

Firstly I am a proponent of the idea of software as a new form of literacy - it is eating the world and as such if you are literate you run rings round the illi

Firstly I am a proponent of the idea of software as a new form of literacy - it is eating the world and as such if you are literate you run rings round the illiterate - no matter what your age. But companies are pyramids - and some roles (like sales) mean their value to the company can be measured on an individual basis. But most roles cannot - and the further away from the customer you are the more it is true As such the only metric available is "number of people reporting to you" It would be nice to find some other metric - there may not be one. As such the push away from coding into management is inexorable. if we look at highly literate companies (say Washington Post) then the managing editor spends most time not writing but managing (with some reading involved) to;dr - we have two antagonistic forces - being software literate is for now a force multiplier so why would you not keep doing it? But most organisations can only measure management ladders - so if you want pay or security you climb. Perhaps the book "Developer Hegemony" offers some answers?

daotoad 7y ago
This is why you need to have Senior and Principal engineering roles. As a programmer or operations engineer you should be able to choose between a management or engineering track for advancement. The managers work as an interface between the management hierarchy and the individual contributors. The top engineers work across teams to steer technical solutions and provide cross team focus and continuity. Your principal engineers are charged with breaking down the silos and sharing and setting technical standards and encouraging the reuse of existing services and systems. Tech managers and team leads don't have time to do the technical leadership and work properly with business. Workplaces without this structure invariably fail to have well articulated, cross team technical decision making capabilities. Everything winds up fragmented and reimplemented.
- lifeisstillgood 7y ago
  >> interface between the management hierarchy >> don't have time that's your problem right there

daotoad 7y ago

This is why you need to have Senior and Principal engineering roles. As a programmer or operations engineer you should be able to choose between a management or engineering track for advancement. The managers work as an interface between the management hierarchy and the individual contributors. The top engineers work across teams to steer technical solutions and provide cross team focus and continuity. Your principal engineers are charged with breaking down the silos and sharing and setting technical standards and encouraging the reuse of existing services and systems. Tech managers and team leads don't have time to do the technical leadership and work properly with business. Workplaces without this structure invariably fail to have well articulated, cross team technical decision making capabilities. Everything winds up fragmented and reimplemented.

lifeisstillgood 7y ago
>> interface between the management hierarchy >> don't have time that's your problem right there