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In a law firm, the most senior partner is a lawyer (and usually bills out among the highest). In a hospital, the head of surgery is a surgeon (and usually one o

In a law firm, the most senior partner is a lawyer (and usually bills out among the highest). In a hospital, the head of surgery is a surgeon (and usually one of the best). In a fabrication shop, the boss is a pro with the materials. Software is, AFAIK, the only wildly demanding field where senior leaders who can’t even remotely do the thing is considered normal.

mschuster91 3y ago
> Software is, AFAIK, the only wildly demanding field where senior leaders who can’t even remotely do the thing is considered normal. For what it's worth: just because you're the top dog in your field that doesn't mean you're a good manager. We should actually insist on rolling out separate management and career tracks because either require completely different skillsets.
- ghaff 3y ago
  15 minutes of research would probably get you the names of highly successful technical people who spectacularly flamed out in a senior management role and incredibly successful CEOs of technical companies who lacked pretty much any hands-on technical experience.
- kuchenbecker 3y ago
  Many companies do but the IC track gets hard just as the management track starts. At my company, a Director and a Principal eng are same level, but Principal eng are people with industry renown. There are twice as many Directors than PENG, but you can keep climbing to SR Director, VP, SVP.
HDThoreaun 3y ago
The leaders of hospitals almost always have MBA's, not MDs. Every medical department answers to the business analysts.
- smarmgoblin 3y ago
  I was gonna make a comment saying “yeah but those MBAs aren’t dictating minutiae about how they complete their tasks (in the way software CEOs are assured we work better in an open-office shared desk hours from our homes)” But actually there’s a ton of micromanagement in medicine too. It’s equally insane there though and transparently driven by profit motives over patient wellbeing.
  - red-iron-pine 3y ago
    > It’s equally insane there though and transparently driven by profit motives over patient wellbeing. only in the US, mon ami.

mschuster91 3y ago

> Software is, AFAIK, the only wildly demanding field where senior leaders who can’t even remotely do the thing is considered normal. For what it's worth: just because you're the top dog in your field that doesn't mean you're a good manager. We should actually insist on rolling out separate management and career tracks because either require completely different skillsets.

ghaff 3y ago
15 minutes of research would probably get you the names of highly successful technical people who spectacularly flamed out in a senior management role and incredibly successful CEOs of technical companies who lacked pretty much any hands-on technical experience.
kuchenbecker 3y ago
Many companies do but the IC track gets hard just as the management track starts. At my company, a Director and a Principal eng are same level, but Principal eng are people with industry renown. There are twice as many Directors than PENG, but you can keep climbing to SR Director, VP, SVP.

HDThoreaun 3y ago

The leaders of hospitals almost always have MBA's, not MDs. Every medical department answers to the business analysts.

smarmgoblin 3y ago
I was gonna make a comment saying “yeah but those MBAs aren’t dictating minutiae about how they complete their tasks (in the way software CEOs are assured we work better in an open-office shared desk hours from our homes)” But actually there’s a ton of micromanagement in medicine too. It’s equally insane there though and transparently driven by profit motives over patient wellbeing.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  > It’s equally insane there though and transparently driven by profit motives over patient wellbeing. only in the US, mon ami.