Category: Editorial

Most of us have managers that are picked from the ranks of our technical staff. Often the most talented technical person, or most willing technical staff member, is promoted to manager, given a few hours of training on the various tools that he or she will use to deal with the administrative paperwork a manager fills out, and then cut loose to “manage” a group of people.

And they stink at it.

Most of them are bad. Not only are they bad managers, they are often bad leaders, and many find their technical skills suffer as they split their time with managerial tasks. That certainly puts them in a bad mood and creates worry about their future. It’s not even just in the technology industry, as we find that many managers are bad, yet still languish on for years. This despite the fact that research shows they are costing their companies profit.

Personally I think we are still evolving from the factory-like mentalities where managers needed to oversee workers and give them little leeway or choice in how they perform their jobs. Even in “knowledge work” or creative endeavors, managers too often feel the need to “do something” when they could often do less and get more accomplished. A big part of this is managers want to be paid more because they are responsible for people doing work. However they often don’t accomplish more than their subordinates.

I doubt much will change, but I’d like to see managers for technical people (and directors even) paid less than their technical people, with less responsibility over workers’ efforts. Help them get delays, issues, and problems not related to their tasks out of the way and let them get work done.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcast

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The Voice of the DBA podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

Career: an individual’s journey through learning, work, and other aspects of life.

Vocation: an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which he or she is suited, trained, or qualified.

Which one describes your current employment situation? How do you feel about the technical work you do? A career is a good thing, and I hope that you all have long, successful careers, I hope you continue to learn and maintain a balance between work and your life outside of your job.

However a vocation is what I’d hope drives you forward. You find some endeavor that you are drawn towards, and at which you have some skill at performing. As much as I never planned to be a technical writer, I find that I am really drawn to it, and I enjoy the work quite a bit. I’d say the same thing about speaking and presenting to groups of technical workers. My employment is more of a vocation, and certainly much more than “just a job.”

As you go to work, accomplish tasks and finish projects, think about what you like and don’t like. Think about whether you look forward each day to the challenges you face or you dread each hour. If it’s the latter, then I hope you are making plans to change something. Find a new employer or position. Life is short and you need to remember that you’ll spend a lot of your time at work. Make what you do a vocation and work becomes an exciting piece of your life that enriches your time here.

Steve Jones