Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become engineering managers

Re:Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become... by ska on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:01PM (#22047380)

On the other hand, an effective leader can

- usually tackle bigger problems/projects than they could ever address as an IC

- make sure their team isn't wasting time on the wrong things

- accelerate the development of inexperienced team members

- make sure that the team is more than the sum of it's parts; hopefully very much more

- avoid getting bogged down on technical details that will not be relevant for long. Some of the skills you had that will atrophy aren't very impactful, just necessary at the moment.

Some people will find those things rewarding, and may not find your 1000x factor at all realistic.

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Re:Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become... by vi-mode on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:13PM (#22047529)

Sorry, but what you write could come from any of the millions of self-help leadership books or blog spam from the net. Random, generic advice. This is too simple for my taste and I am not talking about what effective leadership is. Maybe you talk about a first leadership experience or managing two interns and find this rewarding. Yes this is def fun.

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Re:Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become... by ska on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:22PM (#22047658)

I was replying to something generic, balancing out the negatives a bit. I wasn't really talking about what can be effective, but what can be rewarding. YMMV of course.

The only reason I mentioned effective at all is that I don't think it is much fun to be a (knowingly) ineffective leader.

There is, in fact, fun to be found at every level. Perhaps not for every person, but that's life.

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Re:Show HN: I wrote a book for engineers that want to become... by vi-mode on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @01:29PM (#22047759)

> There is, in fact, fun to be found at every level

Yes, but we are not on HN for such generic advice.

Early in my career I thought that leadership is the end goal and just great, nobody told me that it's a bit more complex. My initial comment just says, guys, it's not getting easier, it's getting harder, much harder. Now we can do a philosophical debate what is fun, what is rewarding, that challenges are rewarding (YES they are) but it's about the fact the managing people is not easy and shouldn't be underestimated, the reward structure is very different than coding and much more complex than eg a k8s cluster.

I mean just check Glassdoor and how many people there hate their boss. It's so easy to f*ck up an org if you haven't any experience.

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