Tweet
I was talking with Agent X, on-line, earlier today and he brought up this article:
Opinion: The unspoken truth about managing geeks (By j.ello September 8, 2009 02:15 PM ET)
Effective management of tech industry people in the work-place has been difficult for many managers. Getting the best performance from your employees with the smallest investment of work in managing the employees is highly desired. The above link to an article provides some thoughts in a well presented format for managers to consider when working with "geeks." I think many of the ideas could apply to nearly any industry where you have logical and skilled people motivated to find solutions to puzzles and solve problems.
I especially like how this article discusses the problems associated with something called, "Vertical Depth Perception Illusion," where people without a skill in a specific field find it difficult to compare and contrast the quality of results provided by people of different skill. This isn't just for technical work, but nearly any field of interest.
For example, a person that has no experience with martial arts may see little difference in skill while comparing two people with 3rd degree black belt in karate to 4th degree black belt in karate as each paired levels enter into competition with members of the same skill level. The same can be said about programming, and nearly any other skill. Elegance can best be judged by people familiar with with skill through experience.
I found the article touched on many issues directly, and kept it simple enough for even managers to understand. ;-)
What are your thoughts? What other problems do you see in the tech industry, and what do you think the best solutions are for those problems? Do you find any of your own experiences contradict the thoughts and ideas put forward in this article?
Opinion: The unspoken truth about managing geeks (By j.ello September 8, 2009 02:15 PM ET)
Effective management of tech industry people in the work-place has been difficult for many managers. Getting the best performance from your employees with the smallest investment of work in managing the employees is highly desired. The above link to an article provides some thoughts in a well presented format for managers to consider when working with "geeks." I think many of the ideas could apply to nearly any industry where you have logical and skilled people motivated to find solutions to puzzles and solve problems.
I especially like how this article discusses the problems associated with something called, "Vertical Depth Perception Illusion," where people without a skill in a specific field find it difficult to compare and contrast the quality of results provided by people of different skill. This isn't just for technical work, but nearly any field of interest.
For example, a person that has no experience with martial arts may see little difference in skill while comparing two people with 3rd degree black belt in karate to 4th degree black belt in karate as each paired levels enter into competition with members of the same skill level. The same can be said about programming, and nearly any other skill. Elegance can best be judged by people familiar with with skill through experience.
I found the article touched on many issues directly, and kept it simple enough for even managers to understand. ;-)
What are your thoughts? What other problems do you see in the tech industry, and what do you think the best solutions are for those problems? Do you find any of your own experiences contradict the thoughts and ideas put forward in this article?
Comment