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‘They furiously and passionately wave their hands, but as you and your team stream back to your desks, you wonder “How does all the hand-waving apply to me? It

‘They furiously and passionately wave their hands, but as you and your team stream back to your desks, you wonder “How does all the hand-waving apply to me? It sounded great, but, well, so what?”’ Worth mentioning is that it's possible to understand exactly how all the hand-waving applies to you and your team even if you're not a Lead or Lead of Leads. That may be a sign you're qualified to be one of those (whether you want to be is a different matter). As such, the only thing I'd say is that the roles stated here are the things you expect from those people, but they aren't exclusive. It's possible for a “mere” engineer to have some strategic understanding of the playing field, but not want to take a lead role. It means their picture probably won't be as complete, but that additional understanding will probably help them do their job better—and possibly help them to help their lead do their job better in turn.

hobs 13y ago
After reading the article, I don't think a great director is someone who makes the minions think "so what?", and if they do they generally either are: 1. Not looking to their leads for guidance on this crazy inspired person. 2. Completely right and the guy is full of shit. Worst case for a good director is people say something like "Wow, I am inspired, but I don't understand HOW to accomplish that lofty goal." and that is where the leads come in.
- irollboozers 13y ago
  Does that necessitate that in order to be batshit crazy/inspired, then you always have to be one level up beyond the minions? You have to be crazy enough so that most people don't understand/see/share the vision, but have indoctrinated a handful of skilled people to then spread the message? This analogy is getting closer to prophets and priests... still, I'm inclined to believe that if a director doesn't inspire some sort of positive craziness, then what else does he/she do?
- eitally 13y ago
  The single most helpful thing directors and leads of leads can do is to ensure the right people in a vertical organization know the right facts and strategies. Organizations that compartmentalize, play favorites, introduce political wrangling (over things like budget, popular projects, etc) are going to suffer. This is indisputable and also unavoidable, but by forcing information dissemination across the board the damages are easily mitigated. People are more flexible and resilient than most realize, and generally speaking the hive mind self-organizes to support the larger vision. Assuming there is a clear mission and vision, which is by no means guaranteed.

hobs 13y ago

After reading the article, I don't think a great director is someone who makes the minions think "so what?", and if they do they generally either are: 1. Not looking to their leads for guidance on this crazy inspired person. 2. Completely right and the guy is full of shit. Worst case for a good director is people say something like "Wow, I am inspired, but I don't understand HOW to accomplish that lofty goal." and that is where the leads come in.

irollboozers 13y ago
Does that necessitate that in order to be batshit crazy/inspired, then you always have to be one level up beyond the minions? You have to be crazy enough so that most people don't understand/see/share the vision, but have indoctrinated a handful of skilled people to then spread the message? This analogy is getting closer to prophets and priests... still, I'm inclined to believe that if a director doesn't inspire some sort of positive craziness, then what else does he/she do?
eitally 13y ago
The single most helpful thing directors and leads of leads can do is to ensure the right people in a vertical organization know the right facts and strategies. Organizations that compartmentalize, play favorites, introduce political wrangling (over things like budget, popular projects, etc) are going to suffer. This is indisputable and also unavoidable, but by forcing information dissemination across the board the damages are easily mitigated. People are more flexible and resilient than most realize, and generally speaking the hive mind self-organizes to support the larger vision. Assuming there is a clear mission and vision, which is by no means guaranteed.