

The Unspoken Truth About Managing Geeks (2009) - legacy2013
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/9137708/Opinion_The_unspoken_truth_about_managing_geeks?taxonomyName=Management&taxonomyId=14

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danelectro
I call it "herding cats".

Definitely an uncommon skill, and the top 1% are not even good enough.

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PaulHoule
I find "managing geeks" to be about as offensive as an 1850 book about
"managing niggers".

"geek" is a term that is used to suggest that technical people are somewhat
subhuman and of course inferior to managers.

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simon
I do not see the negative connotations that you do with the word "geek". I
describe myself as a geek or geeky.

That aside, the article is a good one and I have read it several times before
and feel that it gets much right.

~~~
crpatino
The term has evolved over time, but it definitively had negative connotations,
at least at the beginning.

From the Wikipedia article> This word comes from English dialect geek or geck
(meaning a "fool" or "freak"; from Middle Low German Geck)... In 19th century
North America, the term geek referred to a performer in a geek show in a
circus, traveling carnival or travelling funfair sideshows (see also freak
show).

