IMHO, we should add “Be Human first, everything else comes later”.
I like that. It evokes memories of some significant moments in my management career, and also places where leaders have lost my trust.
Principles of Engineering Management
91–100 of 134 posts
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#92Many of these principles may work, but they are not the goal.
The biggest confusion I see in new and experienced managers is the point of their job -> maximizing their teams productivity.
It's not clear from the article that the author has realized this.
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the other doesn't know you moved forward, why would he/she change his behavior ? It looks like the relationship will continue as it began forever - one sided.
Well, if you're doing a good job of treating the person...y'know, as a person, then you can ask them to change their behavior. And generally they'll be amenable to reciprocate. Also: Why doesn't the other person know you've "moved forward"? Try communicating that you have.
In real life it doesnt work that way
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#94We are putting too much into the word "management" - supervision (did you turn up on time, are you capable of doing the basic functions needed) - coaching (this team needs someone to do X, but I have two Ys. One goes or one changes) - administration (budgets, projects, scheduling etc). Certainly the part most at threat from software - looking at you Project Manahers - strategic decision making (yeah that's the part e…
No, management means 1 thing: productivity.
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#95This is typical, MBA armchair psychology. Here's the real Principals of Engineering Management, according to pretty much every middle manager, director, and vp I've ever worked with: 1. Be caviling and pedantic, so you can reinforce your position of petty power. 2. Contribute exactly zero code, infrastructure, etc. Basically, anything that actually provides value to the engineers or the customers, you don't touch. 3.…
As much as I disagree with the article, this is just the engineer's version of it.
I think you would find it really interesting to try running a company or even a team. I think it would help you see your prior managers in a different light.
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#96We are putting too much into the word "management" - supervision (did you turn up on time, are you capable of doing the basic functions needed) - coaching (this team needs someone to do X, but I have two Ys. One goes or one changes) - administration (budgets, projects, scheduling etc). Certainly the part most at threat from software - looking at you Project Manahers - strategic decision making (yeah that's the part e…
The job of being a manager is to understand the leadership roles that need to be fulfilled within the team and to figure out how to make sure they're all performed. You don't have to embody them all yourself. You are accountable for anything you delegate, however.
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#97I consumed a lot of blog posts like this before becoming a manager. It feels satisfying to read vague principles like this: > Facilitate wellbeing > Personal safety, dignity, and wellbeing of every team member are paramount. Team success is only success if team members feel good about it. But then you become an actual manager and realize that these are largely just feel-good aphorisms that don't really help navigate…
I think "facilitate wellbeing" is more than just a feel-good aphorism, because it really does help when there's a difficult decision on your desk, at least for me. My instinct is to push hard, let "the most correct" idea win, and not really give a shit about how it impacts others. All, as you know, awful, very bad, no good ways of managing. Being reminded that one of my primary jobs is to "facilitate wellbeing" helps…
But for every manager like yourself who naturally over prioritizes correct ideas there is a manager who is over prioritizes harmony.
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you're speaking of is "Prioritize Wellbeing" which is a worthy belief to hold and to remind ourselves as engineering managers. However, the specific word used by the OP is "Facilitate" which gives managers the leeway to be weak and lazy. A manager can say "I let my team take PTO a few days each quarter, I facilitated their well-being!" while they passively allow their stakeholders to dictate the workload of thei…
I just don't see how you can read "facilitate wellbeing" and be this upset about it, especially given how you feel about "prioritize wellbeing".
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Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
This resonates with a basic "anti management" feeling I have. I don't hate managers as people. I often really like them. But I hate what the title "manager" does to people. Like "domestic engineers" and "waste engineers" of the past, it's basically become a title grab for "get paid more money." In particular for managers, it usually establishes a "the principal said I can climb higher than you on the jungle gym, and…
What does engineering leadership mean to you? What factors make it easier or harder to practice engineering leadership? For me, I like having a budget and a staff - it’s way easier to influence my organization with a budget and a staff, than without. I’m saying this only to encourage engineering leaders not to be afraid of formal management roles. You can make them your own. You might find what I found.
I think the difference here is in "corporate structure". I mean Bezos and Musk are both extraordinary people - but say Bezos employees about 1 million people and is worth about 150bn - why is the world structured so that each employee "gives" Bezos 150 grand?
There are other ways to structure our corporations, our tax and investment incentives. The Early Victoria British style of corporate structure worked so it got copied naturally. And I am not saying there are easy fixes. But co-operative movements were born at similar times. One day we will see VCs funding co-op unicorns and the world will look differently
Re: Principles of Engineering Management
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you're speaking of is "Prioritize Wellbeing" which is a worthy belief to hold and to remind ourselves as engineering managers. However, the specific word used by the OP is "Facilitate" which gives managers the leeway to be weak and lazy. A manager can say "I let my team take PTO a few days each quarter, I facilitated their well-being!" while they passively allow their stakeholders to dictate the workload of thei…
I just don't see how you can read "facilitate wellbeing" and be this upset about it, especially given how you feel about "prioritize wellbeing".
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