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Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by ggm on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @08:22PM (#26337392)
I want to like this, but I suspect aspects of the red flags exist in any hierarchy. You can't avoid the consequence of a command structure. If you call them a manager you're inventing hierarchies of control.

I'm probably not saying much. I liked it, it IS terse, and that IS useful. But, the red flags aren't no-go, you need to tease things out.

I'm in a NFP and was employee 22-24 and now we're 100. I know the pain of transition into states with intermediate management from 2-level. I've been in the c* role for the tiny entity, I think it doesn't deserve the c* flag actually, now, I work at a lower tier and I prefer it, because the decision logic drive isn't in me. I can't always fathom what we're directed to do, and I don't like that, but I do know some aspects of work depend on commands, not on mutual consent. So, sometimes, you wind up saying "please, tech, don't politicise this internally, do the things we need in other areas" and that winds up being told to do things, not doing it to common cause, (eg when you know a solution sucks, or is an outsource, but its a booked in signed contract you have to work to so your tech input to vary the spec or requirement was lost)

Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by Stratoscope on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @10:37PM (#26338313)
Out of curiosity, what is an NFP?

Sorry if I should have known. I did try searching and found Non-Farm Payrolls, Nurse-Family Partnership, Natural Family Planning, and an insurance broker. It's not one of those, is it?

Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by geoduck14 on Thursday March 04, 2021 @11:32PM (#26352723)
Definitely Natural Family planning. He is sperm #22
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by bigiain on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @11:10PM (#26338484)
I assume Not For Proft.
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by ggm on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @11:27PM (#26338603)
yes. my bad. in OZ, we speak about the CBD all the time. Apparently, nobody else does this for the central business district. you must think we're all stoned, all the time.

NFP is used a lot in the not for profit sector, alongside NGO for non-government organisation.

Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by inopinatus on Thursday March 04, 2021 @06:31AM (#26341134)
The UK also has Quasi-nongovernmental organisations, referring to a general class of arms-length statutory bodies and regulatory/representative agencies that have some devolved authority but little/no direct ministerial or parliamentary oversight. They’re often still publicly funded, or have appointments by patronage, and therefore have split loyalties; or as the saying goes, it takes two to quango.
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by nickcox on Friday March 05, 2021 @12:30AM (#26353129)
Quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organisations, in fact.
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by inopinatus on Friday March 05, 2021 @06:27AM (#26355613)
I believe that is a later backronym, although equally valid, not least since the term is satirical.
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by fblp on Thursday March 04, 2021 @06:04AM (#26340979)
Well said my fellow Australian. Hierarchies can push people into all kinda of tribal behavior depending on the org. Checkout the book https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/ for some alternate frameworks!
Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by debo_ on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @08:52PM (#26337613)
Thanks. The red flags were an experiment; it was my least favorite part of writing this, as I wanted to focus on the what-to-dos.

However, I get asked about red flags so often that I finally tried documenting a few to help people get a sense.

Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by PragmaticPulp on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @09:59PM (#26338091)
I thought the concerns were valid. Especially the point about managers who view themselves as opposed to "the business".

My only suggestion would be to reframe as something other than red flags. Hiring is rarely a matter of binary yes/no evaluations.

In my experience, it's better to approach these as concerns that need further exploration during the interview process, or something to be flagged for additional coaching if the person is eventually hired.

Re:A Terse Guide On Hiring Your First Engineering Manager by debo_ on Wednesday March 03, 2021 @10:06PM (#26338131)
That's helpful feedback, thanks. I'll adjust the wording.