Re:Unlike Babies, the Best Managers Come with Instructions
by freedomben on Sunday November 10, 2019 @11:47AM
(#21498736)
I've always dreamed of that, and while I haven't yet experienced a completely "manager-less" team I've come close. It didn't work out quite like I hoped it would.
The short version is that it worked amazingly well for a little while, with a small team of people that worked well together. However as the team scaled certain personality traits emerged in everybody. What basically happened is certain people became "the manager" in practice because everyone just deferred to this person for decisions and such. Various reasons for that, good and bad:
1. This person was technically very capable.
2. This person had a strong personality that was disagreeable, and people didn't want to cross him.
3. If you were wrong in any way, this person would publicly broadcast your failure, which made people afraid to ever challenge him.
4. Many people aren't really comfortable not having a boss. They will naturally look to someone to lead things, and usually the person they select is not the best one for the job (or even close), it's just the person with the strongest personality. I don't mean to get political here, but I can't help but notice how similar this is to President Trump.
So basically my conclusion is: we can't have nice things because human nature. More specifically, manager-less teams would great for small groups that work well together. It doesn't scale, and doesn't work well for everybody. Some people need management.
The short version is that it worked amazingly well for a little while, with a small team of people that worked well together. However as the team scaled certain personality traits emerged in everybody. What basically happened is certain people became "the manager" in practice because everyone just deferred to this person for decisions and such. Various reasons for that, good and bad:
1. This person was technically very capable.
2. This person had a strong personality that was disagreeable, and people didn't want to cross him.
3. If you were wrong in any way, this person would publicly broadcast your failure, which made people afraid to ever challenge him.
4. Many people aren't really comfortable not having a boss. They will naturally look to someone to lead things, and usually the person they select is not the best one for the job (or even close), it's just the person with the strongest personality. I don't mean to get political here, but I can't help but notice how similar this is to President Trump.
So basically my conclusion is: we can't have nice things because human nature. More specifically, manager-less teams would great for small groups that work well together. It doesn't scale, and doesn't work well for everybody. Some people need management.