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> Many managers...realized that their jobs are unnecessary I hear this a lot in forums, but to me it rings out as something that perhaps-disgruntled workers wa
by 13of40 3y ago
> Many managers...realized that their jobs are unnecessary
I hear this a lot in forums, but to me it rings out as something that perhaps-disgruntled workers want to be true about managers, but isn't really grounded in measurable fact. It's true that as a manager I don't produce a lot of code, but at the end of the day my job is to know who the experts on different topics are and to know what the zeitgeist (and maybe even plan of record) of the org is so I can get the right people in a room together to solve problems. If we left that up to each individual contributor, especially the more junior ones, we'd never be able to achieve a large scale goal. Imagine if you were trying to build the Golden Gate bridge but you eliminated management and just turned a bunch of workers out on the site to do whatever their skills and experience led them to.
- chongli 3y agoI said many managers, not all managers. There are some highly skilled managers (likely promoted engineers) who know exactly what their teams need to be successful and also understand the big picture and where their team’s project fits in. These are not the managers I was referring to. The ones I’m talking about are from “the management class”, likely went to business school, and have no technical background at all, and occupy most of their days “walking a beat” around the office to look over people’s shoulders and make sure they’re busy. These are the Michael Scotts of the world, and they are the ones in crisis, not the skilled managers.