I want to speak to one aspect of the wonderful article:
Listening to weak signals.
I'm about to do a shameless promotion for a book I have nothing to do with, but a book that has been a guiding light for me: Michael Lopp's Managing Humans
When I was reading the article I couldn't help but think of Lopp's advice about regular one-on-one meetings with each of the people on your team.
I think this is one of the points that Lopp intends for managers to be listening to during those meetings.
They aren't so much for feedback from the manager (as they are often treated), but more as opportunities for the manager to listen.
If I understand the book correctly, those one-on-one meetings are exactly the place where the managers are supposed to be listening for the "weak signals."
I am not an expert in every area of development, and yet I have somehow been inserted into a management role.
As Lopp explains very clearly, this happens often, and the single biggest thing you can do when that happens is care about being a manager. It's a different skill set than being an IC.
Recognize that, but don't get totally caught up in that. I don't think Lopp would disagree with anything in this article. I think, in fact, that following Lopp's ideas would lead to far fewer cases of WTF than what we see in the wild.
Listening to weak signals.
I'm about to do a shameless promotion for a book I have nothing to do with, but a book that has been a guiding light for me: Michael Lopp's Managing Humans
When I was reading the article I couldn't help but think of Lopp's advice about regular one-on-one meetings with each of the people on your team.
I think this is one of the points that Lopp intends for managers to be listening to during those meetings.
They aren't so much for feedback from the manager (as they are often treated), but more as opportunities for the manager to listen.
If I understand the book correctly, those one-on-one meetings are exactly the place where the managers are supposed to be listening for the "weak signals."
I am not an expert in every area of development, and yet I have somehow been inserted into a management role.
As Lopp explains very clearly, this happens often, and the single biggest thing you can do when that happens is care about being a manager. It's a different skill set than being an IC.
Recognize that, but don't get totally caught up in that. I don't think Lopp would disagree with anything in this article. I think, in fact, that following Lopp's ideas would lead to far fewer cases of WTF than what we see in the wild.