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Replace "geek" with "highly sought after, intelligent and talented employees" and you'll be closer to the truth. The reason developers are "hard" to manage is

Replace "geek" with "highly sought after, intelligent and talented employees" and you'll be closer to the truth. The reason developers are "hard" to manage is that they're in demand, so they don't have to put up with bad or abusive management. That said.. I'd recommend reading Team Geek (http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920018025.do http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920018025.do) if you have any ambition to move into a management or leadership role.

seivan 14y ago
Not a lot of intelligent and talented software engineers know about it, so they put up with that shit. I know I did.
simonswords82 14y ago
IMO the reason developers are "hard" to manage has nothing to do with the fact that they're in demand - fortunately most developers aren't that fickle. There are numerous reasons why developers are difficult to manage. One of the main reasons is because by and large they are introverts. They therefore don't communicate well with other people at all times. Also - let's face it - the work developers do isn't always easy to understand and quantify; as opposed to say building a house where the inputs/outputs are clearly visible. I can't imagine being a non-techie and trying to manage a team of developers would be at all fun. Source: I own and run a software development company and have employed and contracted with dozens of developers.
- seivan 14y ago
  Have you thought that maybe you pay so bad, that those are the kind of developers you get to be around, and therefore build judgement and assume they are introverts, or don't properly communicate? Social HR huh? Yeah.
  - simonswords82 14y ago
    Interesting point but unfortunately you're off the mark - we use pay ladders for our team, very similar to those Joel Spolsky applies at FogCreek. We keep one eye on the .Net market to ensure our pay scales are aligned with market rates, so pay isn't the issue.
    - seivan 14y ago
      Hah .NET coders. Yeah I got ya.

seivan 14y ago

Not a lot of intelligent and talented software engineers know about it, so they put up with that shit. I know I did.

simonswords82 14y ago

IMO the reason developers are "hard" to manage has nothing to do with the fact that they're in demand - fortunately most developers aren't that fickle. There are numerous reasons why developers are difficult to manage. One of the main reasons is because by and large they are introverts. They therefore don't communicate well with other people at all times. Also - let's face it - the work developers do isn't always easy to understand and quantify; as opposed to say building a house where the inputs/outputs are clearly visible. I can't imagine being a non-techie and trying to manage a team of developers would be at all fun. Source: I own and run a software development company and have employed and contracted with dozens of developers.

seivan 14y ago
Have you thought that maybe you pay so bad, that those are the kind of developers you get to be around, and therefore build judgement and assume they are introverts, or don't properly communicate? Social HR huh? Yeah.
- simonswords82 14y ago
  Interesting point but unfortunately you're off the mark - we use pay ladders for our team, very similar to those Joel Spolsky applies at FogCreek. We keep one eye on the .Net market to ensure our pay scales are aligned with market rates, so pay isn't the issue.
  - seivan 14y ago
    Hah .NET coders. Yeah I got ya.