> Some are pushed into management because they’re the most competent IC on the team. So Plato's Republic describes how this comes about since ancient times, I

> Some are pushed into management because they’re the most competent IC on the team. So Plato's Republic describes how this comes about since ancient times, I wrote something a bit more detailed[1] about it. But here's the TL;DR - the punishment is that he who refuses to rule is liable to be ruled by one who is worse than himself. And the fear of this, induces the good to take office, not because they would, but because they cannot help ... because they are not able to commit the task of ruling to any one who is better than themselves, or indeed as good. Some are pulled into management because of the existing mastery and a looming management vacuum. This isn't something new in tech - it has always been that competent people leave their mastery work to do management (rather politics of ensuring funding), because they see no other choice. Until I found a manager who was better than I was (and once I understood how they did it and what they did all day), I did think in very similar lines, a little bit aided by the "I'm a smart guy" ego clouding my judgement. [1] - http://notmysock.org/blog/philosophy/leading-up?h=1 http://notmysock.org/blog/philosophy/leading-up?h=1