Slashdot Mirror
Can a Manager Be a Techie and Survive?
theodp writes "Some say that good managers should not be technical at all. Over at Computerworld, 'C.J. Kelly' takes a contrarian position, arguing that managers should keep their hands on the technology. The ability to tell the difference between fiction and reality, says Kelly, is priceless." From the article: "If you don't know the difference between fiction and reality, you've got a problem. By being technically informed while managing people and projects, no one can blow smoke up my skirt. I can tell the difference between a lame excuse for a delay and a legitimate reason why something can't be done." Where do you fall on this issue? Is it nice to be able to flim-flam the boss once in a while? Or is the valuable input of a boss with a technical background worth the occasional all-nighter?
I remember hearing this story from some senior engineers I worked with about 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure that it's true.
They were all working hard down at Cape Canaveral getting ready to launch a satellite (an old HS-376). The boss came by and asked how things were going and one of the guys said that they were stuck on a problem and needed some parts. The boss eagerly got involved because this was something that he knew he could handle. They sent him to Radio Shack (Titusville) and had him ask for some polarized resistors. He took it in stride and did not get too upset when he came back (red faced) without them. It must have been very humbling for him.
JSL
Say what ? You hire techies who have girlfriends ?
Why ? Why take the productivity hit when there's such a massive pool of talented geek labour* that is never going to have this problem ?
*large parts of it reading right here...
No no no, _married_ is the best of all worlds.
:-) ]
Not only are they (for the most part) not going out looking for it, but the fact that the other half _is_ local (and waiting for them at home) actually seems to make them more likely to want to pull all-nighters.
[ me, cynical, nah !