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Prioritization is a collaboration in many parts: between members of a team including the manager, and between managers, their managers, etc. Often ICs don't ha

by sidlls 7y ago

Prioritization is a collaboration in many parts: between members of a team including the manager, and between managers, their managers, etc. Often ICs don't have the context necessary to contribute much to the conversation once it leaves the sphere of influence of the team they're on--and more importantly most of them don't want to acquire that context, often because they view it as inferior work that is beneath them. They don't see value in management because they can't see past their own egos and myopia.

siggen 7y ago
Got it— prioritization of say features vs prioritization of tasks in the backlog, as an example. Management is necessary— I don’t think management’s function to a company can be discounted. I am advocating for certain traits I think a manager ought to possess, one of which being they have full ownership of everything happening under their umbrella. :-) Not saying they have to code, but saying if necessary they can be a substitute for anyone under them (given some minor startup cost).
- marcinzm 7y ago
  The problem is that the world is not filled with superman. People who can code, lead, manage down, manage up, do product and so on are very rare. Ones who can do all those well are even rarer. By focusing on coding you get people, who to be blunt, can't manage or lead well. Which leads to more conflicts and issues than it fixes in my experience. Even if you find such people you get into the problem of them stepping on toes because they or others don't realize which hat they're wearing at a moment (ie: are they talking as an IC or as a manager). Plus, at the end of the data, a good manager should aim to hire people smarter and better than them. If they can step in for those people quickly then they're not hiring better or smarter people which is a problem. A first line manager should understand what people do but that is different from being able to do their job to the same level.

by sidlls 7y ago

siggen 7y ago

Got it— prioritization of say features vs prioritization of tasks in the backlog, as an example. Management is necessary— I don’t think management’s function to a company can be discounted. I am advocating for certain traits I think a manager ought to possess, one of which being they have full ownership of everything happening under their umbrella. :-) Not saying they have to code, but saying if necessary they can be a substitute for anyone under them (given some minor startup cost).

marcinzm 7y ago
The problem is that the world is not filled with superman. People who can code, lead, manage down, manage up, do product and so on are very rare. Ones who can do all those well are even rarer. By focusing on coding you get people, who to be blunt, can't manage or lead well. Which leads to more conflicts and issues than it fixes in my experience. Even if you find such people you get into the problem of them stepping on toes because they or others don't realize which hat they're wearing at a moment (ie: are they talking as an IC or as a manager). Plus, at the end of the data, a good manager should aim to hire people smarter and better than them. If they can step in for those people quickly then they're not hiring better or smarter people which is a problem. A first line manager should understand what people do but that is different from being able to do their job to the same level.