I’ve posted my reasons developers may want to stay away from management on my blog here:

http://softwaremanagementblog.net/2016/11/05/10-reasons-to-stay-away-from-management/

Thanks for reading!
-Dave

2. Overall I do agree with the need for focusing on the emotional side ‘AS WELL’ but not completely. So a good manager would balance emotional leadership with managing work using tools and systems. I have witnessed both types of managers and can spot weaknesses in both approaches.

Bob, agree! I have been and am working with several “better” managers, who get (or grab!) the chances in their organizations to do it. It is possible, but still very rare, unfortunately.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for joining the conversation. In the same way that businesses won’t get any better until their markets and customers demand better, I believe that managers won’t manage any better until the folks that hire them and pay them demand better. And that won’t happen until these folks realise a) what better looks like, b) that ‘better’ (and dramatically better) is even possible, and c) that it’s realistic to ask for better (that these folks exist).

Of course, as the post suggests, once we get to “better”, the role of manager dissipates and fades out.

– Bob

Handout done. See: https://flowchainsensei.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/fbwpgsdm1.0.pdf

It made me think: That it would be an interesting exercise to see if you could (taking inspiration from Olaf) turn the post itself into some kind of poster / infographic etc. consolidating the post content into key salient points or phrases that convey the same ideas and spirit?

Just some Monday musing… thank you for helping me start the week in the “right” direction!

Hi James,

Thanks for joining the conversation.

Yes, I make a distinction between friends and allies. The latter brings with it, for me, connotations of “sides” or “factions” – not a helpful dynamic when attempting to bring the whole organisation along on the journey. There’s way too much “us vs them” in most organisations already. I consider it part of the challenge to bring folks together, rather than drive them apart.

– Bob

Rereading your post. You make a distinction between friends and allies. Would you mind elaborating? I consider a good friend to also be a good ally, but a good friend also challenges you when you need to be challenged

Hi Bob, it’s certainly a start – to me, Inspect and Adapt is more a principle / frame of mind, with Dialogue being a Subset. e.g. I could alter my body language to be more open with a person who I’m having difficulty engaging with, I may present information in a manner that’s more “friendly” to the organisation (e.g. Solution Design as PPT rather than Doc), etc…

I suppose you can flip the above around and say that it is covered by the “generic” form of dialogue, but I think it’s worth calling out as many people interpret dialogue to be a verbal exchange.

Borrow away! 🙂

On the note of making yourself redundant: this has been a mark of a good leader always. A good leader is a mentor for those less experienced than him (a mentor, btw, is not someone who wants to shape them in his image – but someone who helps them shape themselves by sharing what he has learned and providing thoughtful feedback). Part of that is looking from day one for potential replacements and helping them develop.