Talking to friends in software orgs recently, I've been struck by commonalities across countries and sectors:
Executives are driving "efficiency," by which they mean maximizing time spent on direct value-creation activities.
BUT there's a tacit, industry-wide assumption that writing code is the only value-creating activity and that all coding generates value.
It's like everyone has prioritized instantaneous boat speed and abandoned navigation and maintenance.
Such a reckoning coming...
@elizayer the last manager I had before I left Google admitted in a 1-on-1 a meeting that he didn't have the technical skills or knowledge to contribute outside of managing people.
This is the fruit of long-term trends that involve not trusting technical staff. (It's a feedback loop because non-technical hires beget more non-technical hires.) Now your leaders are a lot of people whose elbows are knocking pieces off the table because they don't know what the game board looks like.
A close friend and relative of mine recently commented that it's crazy that I.T. departments are full of "managers" who really know almost nothing about the work they are "managing." In no other area (including his own) does anyone think that one can manage work and workers without having deep experience doing the work oneself.
I had to agree with him. We're quite "crazy" like that. 🙄
Elizabeth Ayer
dstu
Jeff Grigg