I believe that it is crucial that managers have a strong understanding of the business that they are managing. If that business happens to be technology based then they should at least have some sound education (not a short course to learn the jargon) in the technology. If you don't understand the business, you cannot fully understand the consequences of decisions. Equally, its easier for those you are managing to bullshit you if you don't really understand the business. Me, I work in healthcare, initially as a nurse, now in management. In addition to my clinical quals, I have post grad business quals, and post grad IT quals. The business and IT quals because I think these are both essential areas of understanding required to manage any business in the 21st century. IT is so crucial to any business that not having some understanding of it is like not being able to read a profit and loss statement - dangerous. I will never be a programmer, but I understand the value and limitations of information systems and information management, and have a better than average understanding of the technology underpinning our business.
An outsiders observation:
I spent a year as an exchange student in an American high school, and the hardest thing to get used to was the extreme stratification (jocks, nerds etc). School in Australia had the same sort of groupings, but the social boundaries weren't anywhere near as rigid. I think the rigid social structure in American schools has a lot to do with the unpopularity of the nerds. Its too hard to change your position in the hierarchy.
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I believe that it is crucial that managers have a strong understanding of the business that they are managing. If that business happens to be technology based then they should at least have some sound education (not a short course to learn the jargon) in the technology. If you don't understand the business, you cannot fully understand the consequences of decisions. Equally, its easier for those you are managing to bullshit you if you don't really understand the business. Me, I work in healthcare, initially as a nurse, now in management. In addition to my clinical quals, I have post grad business quals, and post grad IT quals. The business and IT quals because I think these are both essential areas of understanding required to manage any business in the 21st century. IT is so crucial to any business that not having some understanding of it is like not being able to read a profit and loss statement - dangerous. I will never be a programmer, but I understand the value and limitations of information systems and information management, and have a better than average understanding of the technology underpinning our business.
What nationality was Timothy McVeigh? Yep, he was a local.
An outsiders observation: I spent a year as an exchange student in an American high school, and the hardest thing to get used to was the extreme stratification (jocks, nerds etc). School in Australia had the same sort of groupings, but the social boundaries weren't anywhere near as rigid. I think the rigid social structure in American schools has a lot to do with the unpopularity of the nerds. Its too hard to change your position in the hierarchy.