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Software development requires servant leaders

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Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#151

Post by legulere »

magicalhippo wrote: post #58
gregoriol wrote: post #26

While overall the article is interesting, I'm really disgusted by two sentences: "In software it’s common to have something estimated at a day take a week instead." and "The inherent inaccuracy of software estimates creates extra tension that you don’t find in other industries." Oh, poor thing, you feel so special by being a software engineer? Have you never heard of construction projects taking many times the estima…

> Maybe try digging a tunnel through a mountain, where the kind of rocks and caveats you find on the way can make you overrun your estimates? Usually the client doesn't call halfway through the project and tells you that the tunnel you're digging really needs to start 10 miles further up the valley...

Stuff like that happens also in construction. For instance the BER airport: Midway through the project they decided to build two instead of one floor.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#152

Post by dropit_sphere »

"Servant leadership" is just another word for leadership.

Good leadership is a service. It's certainly rare enough.

But what people tend to mean with the phrase is the opposite: that good leadership consists of and is defined as service. That's just service with a "leadership" nametag, and is insufficient when actual leadership is required.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#153

Post by rednerrus »

ptero wrote: post #67

This is an interesting article, but I do not agree with a number of its points. On the main one: servant leaders are not required ; they work on some teams, and this is great. But other teams need a strong leader who knows what he wants and directs the execution. And team members are often OK with it when probed -- "he is an asshole, but sharp and gets things done. We rarely work long hours and are respected by senio…

Servant Leadership doesn’t mean you don’t hold your team accountable for their deliverables.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#154

Post by Tyrek »

CamTin wrote: post #108
Tyrek wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most law firms, there are two classes of lawyers - employees (salaried, with bonuses) and partners (equity profit share). Generally, partnership takes close to a decade to obtain, and generally requires a buy-in into the partnership. The 'fiction', as you refer to it, is real - they are co-owners in the business, and should be treated with some level of respect. Generally, partnership structures are closely associ…

Right, and this model is itself monstrously inefficient and a result of 19th century (and earlier) modes of production persisting due to the presence of a guild and the absence any reform in the legal system. This is how furniture making and shipping used to work too, but then we invented factories and wage labor.

Any sort of consulting work is effectively a bespoke product - I don't see how you can get to the point where you can 'mass manufacture' professional services.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#155

Post by allochthon »

agentultra wrote: post #141

You have to be careful being a servant leader. It's often a thankless job. And most of the time other people will be taking credit for your work. It's not noble to suffer like that -- it can be damaging to your health. It's an effective position however and comes with it's own rewards. I personally relish seeing my team grow and the people I help mentor flourish. I recommend getting a good therapist and taking small,…

I think part of the challenge is fostering a culture in which people are discouraged from taking credit for other people's work; e.g., doing so is seen by most as being tacky and tasteless. That is a different culture from one that prevails in many American companies, where the rewards go the other way. But I think it's one worth striving for.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#156

Post by hobs »

humanrebar wrote: post #79
ptero wrote: post #67

This is an interesting article, but I do not agree with a number of its points. On the main one: servant leaders are not required ; they work on some teams, and this is great. But other teams need a strong leader who knows what he wants and directs the execution. And team members are often OK with it when probed -- "he is an asshole, but sharp and gets things done. We rarely work long hours and are respected by senio…

> ...making them finally write a quick, limited capability prototype is a MAJOR effort. Fair, but why is that. I've been talked into just-for-now solutions over and over in my career. Rarely does the org actually go back and clean it up in a timely fashion. It's possible, regardless of servantness, that leaders don't have a good reputation for following through and finishing things.

Rarely? Try never. Then its now your job to support the mess from now on. You can call me a recalcitrant developer if you want, but its like asking "Oh, well what bridge can you build in two weeks?"

Sometimes you should build a raft instead of trying to pretend you can build major infrastructure in no time flat.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#157

Post by RobertRoberts »

cvoss wrote: post #143
RobertRoberts wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I interpreted the implied meaning behind the phrase, it's just as meaningless either way. "One who leads by being a servant" is a non-leader, it's an oxymoron, maybe that should have been my phrasing. Also, it smacks of false humility. No one would call themselves a "servant leader" if they were actually a servant, they would just say "servant". Anyone who calls someone else a "servant leader" is choosing their w…

The paradox in terms is entirely intentional. It is supposed to make you stop and think, "How can this be?", because it pushes back against many qualities often traditionally associated to leaders. So in fact, I stand corrected, and the phrase has done it's job in communicating to you exactly what was intended. It is not meaningless after all! (Also, I agree that to self-identify as a servant-leader is not a humble t…

Good leaders don't need labels, only false/deceptive ones do.

While I appreciate the absurdity of your counter argument I really doubt that corporate management is intending to be vague/confusing for the sake of instigating discussion or thoughtfulness in the title of mid-management.

Ever heard of a CEO being called a "servant leader"? If so, who gave him that title?

Again, my personal experience is abusive leaders using this to force underlings to view them as humble, or even lowly equals, to quell dissent while demanding fealty and strict obedience.

Have you ever seen even a single instance of a made up title making someone a better person?

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#158

Post by Mtinie »

citation_please wrote: post #55
wool_gather wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it makes it easier to have all three roles embodied in one person, but these are very, very different skill sets. In asking for one person who's good at all of them, you're talking about a seriously exceptional human being. There just aren't enough to go around.

I'm not saying reduce the body count, I'm saying don't specialize. If you have three managers, have them do everything, don't fire two of them and give the third one the work of the other two. If you still disagree then I think we have different intuitions about the difficulty of wearing different hats in management positions. This is somehow analogous to the split on full-stack vs. specialized development. Interesti…

> Interestingly, full-stack teams have been heads and shoulders above in quality in my experience.

The only caveat to this statement I'd make, based on my own experience, is that for the most successful full-stack teams I've known, having at least one of the team members dedicated as a front-end specialist is a major advantage. Someone who is honestly interested in the State of the Art and who is well-versed in the associated tooling and patterns.

They may decide, pragmatically, to work a step or two behind the bleeding edge with their production projects, but they understand what is out there and how that knowledge can be leveraged to help their team succeed. This role acts as a force multiplier and can empower the rest of the team's full-stack developers to build accessible, usable interfaces.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#159

Post by dropit_sphere »

monkeydreams wrote: post #11
eggie wrote: post #2

In my experience it is rarely enough to just "lead" more thoughtfully, which seems to be what the author here is promoting. Software development does not just require servant leaders in the helping sense, but in the working sense. The best leaders in software and technical domains are also those who can write (either code or ideas) better than anyone else. They have the power to move the project forward on their own,…

> The best leaders in software and technical domains are also those who can write (either code or ideas) better than anyone else. Technical and programming skills have very little overlap with successful team management skills. It's the very essence of the Peter Principle.

Sure, but team management skills often have no application without technical skills to give them context. The best leader in the world (whatever that means) will be severely hampered if they don't understand the problem domain.

Re: Software development requires servant leaders

#160

Post by scarejunba »

phakding wrote: post #137
scarejunba wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, because we develop more value than structural engineers faster than they do and have killed far fewer people than they have. Essentially, we’re economically more efficient so a 10% improvement in our performance is huge, while a 10% improvement in structural engineer performance is a waste of time for the cost incurred. Therefore, software engineers get a lot more attention in terms of how to increase efficienc…

Sure bud! "We" developing more value (whatever that means) is equivalent to that of a stock trader on an open outcry floor thinking they develop country's economy.

Market value, not the abstract concept of value. Stock traders that make lots of money definitely count as developing more value in the sense I was talking about. That is, money earned to the firm.
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