While reading a post on Mini-Microsoft, I was reminded of the boundless hope found in so many technical managers: if we promote a great developer to a management or lead role, he/she should succeed and become a great manager in addition to being a great developer. After all, they're already really good at being technical.
This hope is no more than a dream, and for me, the dream has become a nightmare. My current manager (I'll call him Ted), while a very good technical talent, has little to no managment skill. It's hardly Ted's fault; he's been set up for failure by his manager - who, you might guess, shows little or no management competence himself. And this problem is certainly not isolated to my employer. Stories of poor technical managers, raised up from the ranks of wee developers, abound.
Alas, it is the wee developers in the trenches who pay the price: outrageous demands on our time, poorly formed requirements, and dreadful communication. All of which culminates in stressed developers; stressed developers generate poorly written and documented code, missed deadlines, and a great deal of bitterness about generally everything.
So, I sat idly by for months as my manager failed to manage. Then, gradually, I began letting Ted know just how bad he was at it. My latest attempt came in the form of an intervention. I simply told him outright just how poor a job he was doing. To my surprise, he agreed. And he promised to make an effort to change. "Good luck turning those stripes into spots," I thought to myself. But, until I quit or go mad, it's my job to support Ted as he attempts to make himself into something he's not.
The hardest part for me is being a developer after having led a team. Once you've been the lead dog (and a good lead dog, at that), it's hard to be moved back to being a team dog.
Yeah, I don't see how this is going to change anytime soon. This has been an issue for ever.
ReplyDeleteBut I tend to beleive that good management skills can be learned - there just no good way or willingness to teach it in most engineering organizations.
there just no good way or willingness to teach it in most engineering organizationsThat's an understatement for us - the management team just ignores the problem. No offers of training, no stepping in to resolve the problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that management skills can be taught (particularly under the watchful eye of the likes of el Jefe), but not everyone is teachable, at least not in terms of how to deal with motivating people on a daily basis.