Management wars
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From: on 14 Sep 2005 07:36 In article <joe_zitzelberger-36114C.02473614092005(a)ispnews.usenetserver.com>, Joe Zitzelberger <joe_zitzelberger(a)nospam.com> wrote: [snip] >One does not need competence in the both areas to make judgments. One does not need, in my experience, too much of *anything* to make judgements... what value is seen in these judgements, however, might be another matter, entire. Compare: 'Do not judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins, Kemo Sabe.' .... with ... 'How can you say this is a jury of my 'peers'? Not that I'm guilty of the accusations, of course, but there isn't a single embezzling, seditious pornographer in the bunch!' DD
From: Michael Mattias on 14 Sep 2005 08:34 <docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:dg91vb$7pt$1(a)reader1.panix.com... > In article <joe_zitzelberger-36114C.02473614092005(a)ispnews.usenetserver.com>, > Joe Zitzelberger <joe_zitzelberger(a)nospam.com> wrote: > > [snip] .. [inserted by writer for total clarity] >>My manager (and I am blessed with one of the best) is very skilled at >>organizing and structuring team work activity for maximum performance. >>I am very skilled at creating the software he asks me to create as part >>of that process. >>The skills are completely different... > >One does not need competence in the both areas to make judgments. > > One does not need, in my experience, too much of *anything* to make > judgements... what value is seen in these judgements, however, might be > another matter, entire. I simply MUST concur with Mr. Z here. Management is an entirely different profession from programming/development, requiring different skills, a different temperment and a different perspective. And just like being a programmer, the more of the required skills one has in his chosen discipline, the better that person will be at that task. Of course the 'value' of judgments will be seen differently by the manager and the technical professional.. the technical person's perspective is limited to the technical, whereas the manager's valuation is made considering the perspectives of sales, administration, finance, production and all the other functional areas of a company's business. Biggest mistake made by far too many companies: Automatically selecting the best <anything> to be the new "<anything> manager." MCM Disclaimer: I was a professional manager (wholesale distribution and services) for 20 years before getting into I/T consulting.
From: Alistair on 14 Sep 2005 08:36 > > > > In the US this is true of every position that I've seen - though apparently > > acting is useful for a political career...as well as having the right dad. > > Acting is helpful in many ways. It is essentially public speaking, > crowd pleasing and charm school rolled into one skill set. Acting might > actually be harder than politics -- after all, people voluntarily give > actors their money. > > But leave that aside. > > Don't you find it humorous that "having the right dad" is mentioned as a > US attribute? In commentary involving the UK? > > Which place is it that makes one the absolute sovereign over like 18 > nations just for being the initial recipient of the royal sperm? Actually, not the UK. We only make the recipient sovereign if it is a male. A female would only ascend to the throne if she had no male siblings. > > Where can one inherit respect-enforced-by-law and political power only > on the basis of DNA? > > Just checking...
From: on 14 Sep 2005 09:18 In article <oNUVe.485$jS.483(a)newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>, Michael Mattias <michael.mattias(a)gte.net> wrote: ><docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:dg91vb$7pt$1(a)reader1.panix.com... >> In article ><joe_zitzelberger-36114C.02473614092005(a)ispnews.usenetserver.com>, >> Joe Zitzelberger <joe_zitzelberger(a)nospam.com> wrote: >> >> [snip] >. [inserted by writer for total clarity] >>>My manager (and I am blessed with one of the best) is very skilled at >>>organizing and structuring team work activity for maximum performance. > >>>I am very skilled at creating the software he asks me to create as part >>>of that process. > >>>The skills are completely different... > >> >One does not need competence in the both areas to make judgments. >> >> One does not need, in my experience, too much of *anything* to make >> judgements... what value is seen in these judgements, however, might be >> another matter, entire. > >I simply MUST concur with Mr. Z here. Management is an entirely different >profession from programming/development, requiring different skills, a >different temperment and a different perspective. And I agree with you, Mr Mattias, that management of a group performing (function) requires different skills, temperment and perspective than performing (function) might. > >And just like being a programmer, the more of the required skills one has in >his chosen discipline, the better that person will be at that task. Here I must disagree, having seen too much 'Look, Ma, I'm a Programmer!' code. There are cases where the newbie, who does not know anything else, will generate a solution similar to that of the oldbie, who has seen more of the mistakes and knows to simplify; the journeyman... journeyperson... mid-level skilled folks can, at times, induce unnecessary complexity. > >Of course the 'value' of judgments will be seen differently by the manager >and the technical professional.. the technical person's perspective is >limited to the technical, whereas the manager's valuation is made >considering the perspectives of sales, administration, finance, production >and all the other functional areas of a company's business. .... and completely ignores who is getting the corner office, the company car, the heavy-chested secretary and the bigger budget... and I am the King of England, as well. > >Biggest mistake made by far too many companies: Automatically selecting the >best <anything> to be the new "<anything> manager." Sounds like a Peter Principle to me, aye. DD
From: Michael Mattias on 14 Sep 2005 12:17
<docdwarf(a)panix.com> wrote in message news:dg97us$km9$1(a)reader1.panix.com... > In article <oNUVe.485$jS.483(a)newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>, > Michael Mattias <michael.mattias(a)gte.net> wrote: > >And just like being a programmer, the more of the required skills one has in > >his chosen discipline, the better that person will be at that task. > > Here I must disagree, having seen too much 'Look, Ma, I'm a Programmer!' > code. There are cases where the newbie, who does not know anything else, > will generate a solution similar to that of the oldbie, who has seen more > of the mistakes and knows to simplify; the journeyman... journeyperson... > mid-level skilled folks can, at times, induce unnecessary complexity. "Manager" does not mean "best designer" or "best debugger" or "best trainer" or "most hands-on-experience." The good manager will obtain, retain, and assign the right people to fill these roles. Maybe he will assume one or more of them personally, but that's not a requirement. That the role *be* competently filled *is* a requirement for "manager." In 1983 I was recruited to be general manager of a software firm (commercial VAR); at the time, I could not spell COBOL, leave alone write it (all our products were written in COBOL). In 1984 our firm was named one of the Top Ten Small Software Firms in the US by our trade press, so I must have been doing something right. I knew we needed 'shop standards' and just like your situation, we had 'newbies' who often did not know where to start on a client job. But I was blessed with some good people to handle the 'shop standards' and 'design assistance' ; and perhaps most importantly, had earned the respect of the rest of the programming staff. All I really had to do was recognize that, turn 'em loose and back 'em up. It works, it really does. MCM |