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Re:Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to... by sangnoir on Friday January 07, 2022 @03:00AM (#29836329)
There really isn't a pipeline for for entry-level managers in tech: I've never heard of anyone interning for, or graduating from college and managing ICs as an entry-level job. However, those managers are needed, and have got to come from somewhere, so here we are, looking to start a death metal band at a seminary.
Re:Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to... by marcus_holmes on Friday January 07, 2022 @04:14AM (#29836899)
As someone who's done both (dev and dev management), it's more that it's very hard to manage dev teams unless you've been a dev. We have all experienced the clueless non-technical manager who doesn't understand why any of this has to be this way and keeps pushing for "common sense" things like accurate estimates for project development.

There's also nothing stopping a good dev from being a great manager, or vice versa. A good dev learns to listen well, which is also a key skill as a manager. A dev creates working systems out of conceptual components, a manager creates working teams out of actual people. The biggest difference is that there's no Stack Overflow for management - every situation has to be treated as unique and you can't just copy-paste the solution.

Re:Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to... by q-big on Friday January 07, 2022 @05:21AM (#29837412)
> We have all experienced the clueless non-technical manager who doesn't understand why any of this has to be this way and keeps pushing for "common sense" things like accurate estimates for project development.

This is in my opinion actually quite easy to explain to managers: asking for time estimates in software development is like asking for time estimates in proving a deep conjecture in mathematics.

Since every economics major has to take some courses in mathematics (which at least in Germany are often there to weed out bad students), this should not be difficult to understand for managers.

The problem rather is that these clueless non-technical managers insist that this perspective is simply wrong and theirs is right.

Re:Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to... by marcus_holmes on Friday January 07, 2022 @09:45AM (#29839656)
Having never had a manager with any clue about maths, I found the golf analogy works better:

"Why can't you hit a hole in one with every golf shot? You know exactly where the hole is, you know how much the ball weighs, you know the length of the club, you know how hard you need to hit it and in what direction. So why isn't every golf shot a hole in one? Because, obviously, you may have miscalculated how hard and at what angle you should hit the ball, you may not have the skill to hit the ball exactly right, and any amount of random factors can affect the ball between you hitting it and it arriving at the green. Same for software development"

Re:Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to... by q-big on Friday January 07, 2022 @09:59AM (#29839820)
> Having never had a manager with any clue about maths,

This is exactly my point: at least in Germany, the compulsory "mathematics for economists" courses are there to weed out student and are thus feared among the respective students.