

The maker/manager transition phase - LeonW
http://joel.is/post/36051780992/the-maker-manager-transition-phase

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MattRogish
Right now, I'm the CTO of a small startup in NYC. I'm probably 80%
development, 30% other.

When I've been on bigger teams, it's probably more like 10-15% coding, 120%
other.

I find that it's beneficial for me to always be in the code even as the team
grows - even just a little bit. But, I usually take on small "nice to haves"
(or small bugs) that no one relies upon and isn't critical to the product. So
when it takes me a month to write it, no one cares.

In the least, it forces me to understand how to keep the system up and running
on my machine and answer/demo general purpose stuff to other folks without
looking like an idiot.

If you're a technical manager, I think dropping to 0% coding is a bad thing.
It's way too easy to get out of touch.

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grantism
I totally agree with this. There is no bigger disservice to your team or
company than being the guy in charge whose knowledge is 10 years out of date.

That doesn't just apply to technical things either. It's an easy example to
talk about the project manager who cut his teeth writing procedural code in
QBASIC and has an unrealistic grounding. It also applies to the store manager
in a fast food restaurant who hasn't made a cheeseburger.

~~~
freework
I think those are two different jobs. On one hand you have the Product Leader,
whose job it is to stay on top of the technology that drives the product, and
to be aware of the codebase. On the other hand, you have the Team Leader,
whose job it is to facilitate communication between team members. To make sure
team members are productive and happy.

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bhntr3
Two points to augment the article:

1) It's too easy to fall into the pattern of _bullsh%t by day, hacking by
night._ There are two problems with that. First, you're still seeing
management as bullsh%t (a natural inclination for a hacker.) Second, it's
unsustainable and overwhelming. If you find yourself feeling like you never
get anything done while other people are around, then your job is no longer
coding and you have to accelerate the transition to manager (especially in
your own mind.) This has been my experience.

2) Not every engineer should make this transition. If you're a founder or CEO,
you will have to, but make sure you build a company where every engineer does
not have to. I've worked at companies where the only path to success was
through delegation and distance from the code. That sucks. Some people are
amazing coders who will continue to deliver increasing value for years and you
will only lose them if you can't find a way to let them progress their careers
without having to do things they find uninteresting or are simply not well
suited for.

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akoumjian
I am also a CTO for a small startup in Seattle. We now have an engineering
team of 4 and I find myself oscillating between playing these roles. At this
stage, I have to make sure I don't ignore either position.

If I ignore coding, I begin to feel detached from the product we are
developing. It becomes easy to lose interest in the quality of what is being
produced. On the other hand if I ignore the managing aspect, we become a much
less effective team.

Sometime later this year we will be growing and I wonder if and when it will
be appropriate to drop coding altogether and start developing my management
skills with 100% focus.

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mappu
I work on an internally-funded startup within a small business - equal parts
management, development and devops simply by necessity. So i'm guilty of
finding management a chore, or at best, a huge time-sink.

But there are highlights. It's oft-repeated but it really is true that
supporting your customers and dealing with marketing can give you great
insight into your own product. Through customer interaction i've gotten simple
feature requests that add significant value, that I would never have
encountered on my own with a programmer mindset.

I'd still take a pure 'maker' position any day of the week.

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asanwal
A key ingredient in this transition and being successful in it is trusting in
your team.

We've gone from 3 to 10 in last year and realizing everything might not happen
my way but will still be done well required some mental adjustment for me. But
the ability to do this was purely a function of trust in the people on the
team and their instincts, judgement, skills, etc. (note: the mental adjustment
remains a work in progress. Maker tendencies are not easy to lose)

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gtzi
Great read, I've put some similar thoughts of mine here -
<http://gtziralis.com/from-doer-to-leader/>

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davidtyleryork
Fantastic post, and one that I think a lot of developer founders can
sympathize with. If you're in the specific circumstance of being the developer
founder turned CEO, I think this is one of the toughest aspects of that role.
I appreciated the fact that you brought in advice from numerous outside
sources as well.

