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Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

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Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#51

Post by zzalpha »

dagw wrote: post #45
zzalpha wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of those great discoveries that is hardly surprising and makes you wonder why it hadn't be seen before. Well, the traditional view of "management" is that it's a distinct job from "doing". Therefore, so the thinking goes, there is a distinct difference in skillsets, and thus the manager should be good at the managing bit, and the doer should be good at the doing bit. The reality is that in order to effect…

you have to understand what the doers are actually doing. While this may be necessary it is definitely far from sufficient. Especially in academia, where my wife works, I've seen countless examples of people whom are perfectly competent research scientists becoming scarily incompetent managers.

No argument here. I'd never claim good managers don't have additional skills beyond the technical. Only that the crisp line we try to draw between the two roles is a false one.

I'd also claim the following: sometimes doers have to manage up or laterally. In that sense, a good doer must have some of the skills of a good manager, just as the reverse is true...

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#52

Post by vthallam »

gdulli wrote: post #49
bognition wrote: post #2

>The benefit of having a highly competent boss is easily the largest positive influence on a typical worker’s level of job satisfaction This is one of those great discoveries that is hardly surprising and makes you wonder why it hadn't be seen before. Honestly some of my worst work experiences were getting jerked around by a superior who completely failed to understand the work required to do my job.

I've had bosses who couldn't do my job but trusted me and didn't get in my way and gave me the exact environment I needed to work in. Those were the best work experiences I ever had. It's the bosses who can do my job I have to worry about, they feel like they need to get involved with it and that hurts my job satisfaction. I need a boss with complementary skills to mine, not the skills I already have. People have all…

That would be great, as long as the employee is motivated and smart enough to do great work, else it would be difficult for the manager to gauge employee's quality of contribution.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#54

Post by forgetsusername »

throwawayboss wrote: post #30

So does this mean 'professional managers' are the root of most unhappiness at work? Certainly that's been my experience. A company that doesn't hire MBAs is one I want to work for.

>A company that doesn't hire MBAs is one I want to work for.

Can you point to all the successful companies that make a conscious effort to not hire MBAs? Tough slog. Maybe these companies know something you don't?

But any company that eliminates candidates based simply off their degree is no company I want to work for.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#55

Post by uiri »

mrfusion wrote: post #34

I actually think you get more respect if your boss (or his nephew) can't do your job. At my last offfice job the programmers doing graphics/OpenGL stuff got way more respect than the web developers.

If your boss can do your job, then he understands its technical realities and the problems you may be facing.

If your boss thinks his/her adolescent nephew can do your job, then he probably doesn't understand it and views it as a low skill position.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#56

Post by mrfusion »

throwawayboss wrote: post #50
mrfusion wrote: post #34

I actually think you get more respect if your boss (or his nephew) can't do your job. At my last offfice job the programmers doing graphics/OpenGL stuff got way more respect than the web developers.

You would think so, but that's mostly not the case in practice. A lot of people that don't know what you do will assume it's simple enough. It's just not worth their time. That's why they never learned to do it. For instance, I used to think sales and marketing were easy until I had to do it.

Yeah it probably depends on what the job is. If it's generally seen as skilled and prestigious then you'll get respect but if it's skilled but seems easy then you won't.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#58

Post by nateberkopec »

What's with HN editors changing the title on this one from the actual title of the article ("If Your Boss Could Do Your Job, You’re More Likely to Be Happy at Work") to " Employees are far happier when led by people with deep expertise"? The original title was far more descriptive.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#59

Post by dahauns »

christophilus wrote: post #47
martincmartin wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what your boss does, day-to-day, is very different than what you do. So it seems natural that they'd need different skills. I'm a software engineer, and hiring managers has been a problem at every company I've worked at. You want someone who has written software earlier in their career, and has a degree in software engineering or similar. In other words, people who have chosen to spend a lot of time with comp…

In my experience, this part isn't true: "And you don't want their knowledge of software construction to not be too out of date." One of my best bosses was largely a C programmer (from back in the 80s). He'd still tinker with things from time to time, but I think the fundamental principles of software engineering haven't changed a whole lot since then. A software engineer who could have written a book like SCIP or Pro…

> I think the fundamental principles of software engineering haven't changed a whole lot since then.

Not sure I agree with that. A lot of todays best practices and workflows (and the tech to go with it), especially considering team and release management, simply weren't around or at least widespread even twenty years ago. You know, stuff like CI, TDD, DVCS etc. etc.

Re: Employees are happier when led by people with deep expertise

#60

Post by abawany »

I skimmed the comments and didn't see the following perspective so thought I would add it: one thing that makes it great for me to work with people with deep expertise is the ability to learn amazing things. I am willing to put up with a lot of 'management personality/quirks' if it comes with learning that is invaluable. I believe people who work with 'interesting' (sometimes abusive) chefs such as Gordon Ramsay may also share this motivation. However, this is just my opinion and I can't say that there is a general trend for this sort of thinking.
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