Cat HicksSorry but saying "most technological problems are actually human problems" and then never in any way attempting to understand or put rigor to the human problems is lazy and not cutting it in 2024
Venting to your friends, sure. As a professional stance? Please start doing the work??
Jeff GriggWhat I've been seeing in the industry, across companies, for at least the past decade is that one of the most "popular" trends in "management" is to silently "delegate" most of one's "management responsibilities" to one's direct reports -- expecting them to do it all for you.
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Instead of "When I delegate this work to you, it's my responsibility to communicate my expectations clearly.", it's turned into, "When I need to delegate work to you, it's *your responsibility* to ask me, and find out. And if I have anything in mind that you don't know, it's *your responsibility* to find out, because you're the one who's ignorant."
[Now, of course, the "good managers" do not do anything of the sort. But the "social trend" I've been seeing is more like the above.]
@JeffGrigg tell me more about where you think this comes from -- people with poor management training, badly handling their own stress? A kind of low information management style? If it's a trend, is it contagious? Like a social norm you are seeing for things that didn't used to be normative? Just asking to get more examples. Sounds like this feels between direct managers and ICs is that what you're describing?
I've been working in the industry since 1981. I've seen a lot of changes. One of the biggest changes is in scheduled meetings: Practically all senior ICs and all managers have schedules that are full or nearly full of back-to-back scheduled meetings. The meetings have no agenda. They're poorly organized. They accomplish little. And there's practically no time to actually get any work done outside of the scheduled meetings.
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So most managers seem to find themselves spending practically all their time negotiating with customers, peers, and superiors. None of them really have any "spare time" to talk or discuss or work with their direct reports. Everything else takes precedence.
This seems really obvious in "line managers," whose primary responsibility, historically, has been to "manage the Individual Contributors" — they simply don't have time for that any more. Their schedule is full of meetings.
Someone in Human Resources recently messaged me. And said they needed to talk with me. And then they did the usual "modern" thing of making me responsible for this, and for prioritizing their work and managing their schedule:
"I need to talk with you. Please set up a meeting with me."
OK; I look at their schedule.
14 hours a day of meetings. No break for lunch or dinner. Blocked out for more than a week.
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I messaged back: "Sorry. Can't do that. Your schedule is full. Mine is completely open. Any time. I'll skip out on any conflicting thing. If you can make a 'hole' in your schedule, I'll make it work on mine."
They had to work out their priorities and sacrifice something else less important *to them* than talking with me.
I can't make these prioritization and time management decisions for them. I don't have the information or authority.
This was NOT an isolated incident.
jnkrtech@JeffGrigg @grimalkina This is why it’s a yellow flag for me when companies focus really heavily on developers having “customer focus” and seeking “ownership”. Those are good things! But often they are code for “developers have the responsibility to solve management’s problems but won’t necessarily have management’s support when doing so”.
Michael BaconRelated: "it's a social construct" is not at all the same as saying any of the following:
1. the problem is not real
2. the problem is not attenuated by the technologies involved
3. the problem is easy to solve
4. the problem can be solved by just freeing our minds or something.
Ben Rosengart
trisweb@grimalkina “whelp, human problems. That sucks for the people with those problems. Oh well, moving onto the spec!”
Oof. I feel this in my heart today.