5 ms·

How I Learned to Love Middle Managers

57 points by __ 18y ago

cubicle67 18y ago
> Published September 2008 I'm still stuck in August :(
- jyothi 18y ago
  Smart of you to notice. Time travel.
- graywh 18y ago
  Welcome to magazine publishing. If the magazine comes out in August and gets an August date, come Septermber 1st no one buys it because it's an old issue. At least, that's what the publishers think.
  - cschneid 18y ago
    The explanation I always heard was that the date was the pull date. So NewsWeek was always dated as the day the next issue would come out. For monthly magazines, it's the month that the next issue will come out in.
    - graywh 18y ago
      That makes sense.
edw519 18y ago
The same thing happened at McDonald's many years ago. You had 2 kinds of people in the building: 1 manager and 38 teenagers. We had to figure out how to get things done with or without the manager. The more knowledgeable (senior) employees gradually became de-facto supervisors. Eventually, the company gave them the title "swing manager" and a little raise for the job they were already doing. I suspect Joel's new middle managers were already well positioned for their new jobs, probably doing them already. The recognition and extra $ are always a nice touch. (Any resemblence between the way McDonald's is run today and when I was a teenager is purely coincidental.)
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
biohacker42 18y ago
I hate to throw Agile buzzwords around but: The Scrum master's job is to remove obstacles from the team's path. There's no telling people what to do, just listening to them at regular team meeting and helping solve what ever problems they come up with. The scrum master does not have to be a manager just a "person with influence". So maybe Joel & Co. can implement regular team meeting where "people with influence" listen to complaints and then try to solve them. And solving problems may require nothing more then being comfortable chatting with Joel.
- MicahWedemeyer 18y ago
  Yeah, scrum was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the article. Managers who remove obstacles = great Managers who are obstacles = get a new job
- mynameishere 18y ago
  The Scrum master's job is to remove obstacles from the team's path Meanwhile, the Dungeon master's job is to insert obstacles in the team's path.
  - ConradHex 18y ago
    What do I have to roll to make my saving throw?
lucraft 18y ago
Gosh. Trouble in paradise?

57 points by __ 18y ago

cubicle67 18y ago

> Published September 2008 I'm still stuck in August :(

jyothi 18y ago
Smart of you to notice. Time travel.
graywh 18y ago
Welcome to magazine publishing. If the magazine comes out in August and gets an August date, come Septermber 1st no one buys it because it's an old issue. At least, that's what the publishers think.
- cschneid 18y ago
  The explanation I always heard was that the date was the pull date. So NewsWeek was always dated as the day the next issue would come out. For monthly magazines, it's the month that the next issue will come out in.
  - graywh 18y ago
    That makes sense.

edw519 18y ago

The same thing happened at McDonald's many years ago. You had 2 kinds of people in the building: 1 manager and 38 teenagers. We had to figure out how to get things done with or without the manager. The more knowledgeable (senior) employees gradually became de-facto supervisors. Eventually, the company gave them the title "swing manager" and a little raise for the job they were already doing. I suspect Joel's new middle managers were already well positioned for their new jobs, probably doing them already. The recognition and extra $ are always a nice touch. (Any resemblence between the way McDonald's is run today and when I was a teenager is purely coincidental.)

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

biohacker42 18y ago

I hate to throw Agile buzzwords around but: The Scrum master's job is to remove obstacles from the team's path. There's no telling people what to do, just listening to them at regular team meeting and helping solve what ever problems they come up with. The scrum master does not have to be a manager just a "person with influence". So maybe Joel & Co. can implement regular team meeting where "people with influence" listen to complaints and then try to solve them. And solving problems may require nothing more then being comfortable chatting with Joel.

MicahWedemeyer 18y ago
Yeah, scrum was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the article. Managers who remove obstacles = great Managers who are obstacles = get a new job
mynameishere 18y ago
The Scrum master's job is to remove obstacles from the team's path Meanwhile, the Dungeon master's job is to insert obstacles in the team's path.
- ConradHex 18y ago
  What do I have to roll to make my saving throw?

lucraft 18y ago

Gosh. Trouble in paradise?