3 ms·

We take for granted that we need managers but I'm not buying it. The manager is an anti-pattern in software and so too in organizations. What is their role any

We take for granted that we need managers but I'm not buying it. The manager is an anti-pattern in software and so too in organizations. What is their role anyway? Naming things is hard perhaps scheduler would be a better classname or resolver?

rawgabbit 6y ago
A managers only real job is to hire and fire the team members.
- artsyca 6y ago
  You'd think so, right? But the incentive is to show they were good hires and to quickly eliminate bad hires and if you show me the incentives I'll show you the outcomes... There is zero incentive to hire for anything except individual performance (superstar) or technical knowledge (basically the same as above) and any success can be humbly accepted while blame can be cleverly diverted onto the team while advancing one's career and looking good to one's bosses. A better scam has never been perpetrated and it all starts from people trusting too much as is often the case.
codegeek 6y ago
As the founder of a small bootstrapped team of 15, I can confirm that good managers are needed. I am already struggling at this size so I can now fully appreciate the role of good managers in larger orgs. Trust me, you need good managers. It is not only required but very critical to the success of any team and organization. There is a reason good CEOs and Executives get top dollar (and yes not all are worth the money but many are) because ultimately their job is to manage the company. Lower level managers as well have a critical responsibility to manage their own groups/teams.
- artsyca 6y ago
  The larger an organization scales the more it relies on signals rather than explicit spoken directives. In fact the majority of communication operates on signals and we ought to know that by this millennium. If you're not using signals to advantage well then maybe you've got a culture where people are putting out the wrong signals and they're being ignored or people are putting out conflicting signals and a lot of the wrong signals are getting picked up or any other combination that doesn't spell success. I wonder how many founders in the industry would say the same and how many of them are captains of a barely floating ship with dozens of little holes? And a million other questions about why victory is never guaranteed, only deserved. Or maybe you think culture grows organically like some crazed survival of the fittest type of scenario. I can tell you more about how that works out by examining the kitchen and the bathroom than attending any management meeting.
  - artsyca 6y ago
    Talk about picking up on signals -> https://qz.com/work/1861934/study-suggests-we-can-hear-someones-hand-gestures https://qz.com/work/1861934/study-suggests-we-can-hear-someo... Imagine all the emotional leakage coming out of your casual workforce

rawgabbit 6y ago

A managers only real job is to hire and fire the team members.

artsyca 6y ago
You'd think so, right? But the incentive is to show they were good hires and to quickly eliminate bad hires and if you show me the incentives I'll show you the outcomes... There is zero incentive to hire for anything except individual performance (superstar) or technical knowledge (basically the same as above) and any success can be humbly accepted while blame can be cleverly diverted onto the team while advancing one's career and looking good to one's bosses. A better scam has never been perpetrated and it all starts from people trusting too much as is often the case.

codegeek 6y ago

As the founder of a small bootstrapped team of 15, I can confirm that good managers are needed. I am already struggling at this size so I can now fully appreciate the role of good managers in larger orgs. Trust me, you need good managers. It is not only required but very critical to the success of any team and organization. There is a reason good CEOs and Executives get top dollar (and yes not all are worth the money but many are) because ultimately their job is to manage the company. Lower level managers as well have a critical responsibility to manage their own groups/teams.

artsyca 6y ago
The larger an organization scales the more it relies on signals rather than explicit spoken directives. In fact the majority of communication operates on signals and we ought to know that by this millennium. If you're not using signals to advantage well then maybe you've got a culture where people are putting out the wrong signals and they're being ignored or people are putting out conflicting signals and a lot of the wrong signals are getting picked up or any other combination that doesn't spell success. I wonder how many founders in the industry would say the same and how many of them are captains of a barely floating ship with dozens of little holes? And a million other questions about why victory is never guaranteed, only deserved. Or maybe you think culture grows organically like some crazed survival of the fittest type of scenario. I can tell you more about how that works out by examining the kitchen and the bathroom than attending any management meeting.
- artsyca 6y ago
  Talk about picking up on signals -> https://qz.com/work/1861934/study-suggests-we-can-hear-someones-hand-gestures https://qz.com/work/1861934/study-suggests-we-can-hear-someo... Imagine all the emotional leakage coming out of your casual workforce