Management Sucks
Just so there is no misunderstanding, I love my job and I love what I do. I’m not sure I’d say that if I weren’t still connected to technology in some way. There is the very real possibility that what I enjoy about my job is that I get to manage technologists and the software applications that are a result of their efforts. I consider that all part of how I wanted my career to go, though. For me to be where I am today I wanted to make sure I stayed in the technology field. I think if I had taken a job managing business analysts or accountants I would be singing an entirely different tune. With that established, let me continue.
If I were a fry cook at McDonald’s with limited career options and education, I would be gunning for the manager’s job every hour I was at work. To put it quite simply, the only way to make the big bucks if that’s your job is to get into management. In the white collar world though, particularly in technology, it is quite possible to earn a decent living without ever having the word “manager” in your title. Indeed, in technology and certain business practices, people who wear the title “architect” of some sort often make just as much money or more as their management counterparts. Yet nowhere that I have ever worked prior to becoming a software professional do you see more people seeking after management positions, all the while those same people will profess an utter ignorance of how to attain said goal.
I went into management with my eyes wide open. I knew there were pitfalls. When I hit my magical five year mark I decided that I needed to start working on either getting into software architecture or management. About that same time I worked with the best manager and software architect that I had encountered since I had started working bagging groceries at the age of 16. I knew the third option, code until my hands dropped off, was not going to work because at some point I was going to get tired of the more tedious aspects of my job. I won’t go into the details of my decision but I choose to focus more on getting into management while also picking up enough architect skills that I could fall back on that if I needed to.
I enjoy being a manager, but there is a lot to not enjoy about it. Before my current employer I was a Technical Team Lead at the consulting firm I worked at. At least that was my title du jour since my exact role could vary based on project. I got my first taste of management suckitude conducting phone interviews for the development team in India. People like to talk about how stressful going to interviews are, but giving an interview is no cakewalk either. It is a repetitive process often exaccerbated by a candidate’s complete lack of appreciation for the fact that they were likely not the first person I have asked these same set of questions to. However, not having a team yet, the interview process was just the first in a series of not fun activities I would get to perform as a Technical Team Lead and later as a Development Manager for my current employer.
As a manager you get to deal with interpersonal conflicts, scheduling conflicts, paperwork, personnel challenges (vacations, sickness, resignations, training, etc.), meetings, paperwork, planning sessions, design sessions, paperwork, customer calls, team-building events, and paperwork. Chances are you still have a boss to report to, and even if you do get to be a CEO you still have a Board of Directors to report to. You still have a boss, but now you have subordinates, and yet you still have peers. People will like you because you are in management and other people will hate you because you are in management and unless you’re an egomaniac it won’t matter if people love you or hate you for these reasons because you’ll still feel isolated since neither group has these feelings based on you as an individual. You are being judged based on your title, something the very people you manage would resent you for doing to them.
Speaking of judging, you’re performance is largely going to be based on how your team performs. So if you get a team full of hard chargers you look good, and if you get a team full of slackers you look bad. As a manager you have some control over this but you’re dependent on how others work in order to succeed. Now, it is a poor carpenter that blames his tools and I will say that poor managers often end up with poor teams. Even so, how do you feel about your future at your job being entirely in the hands of others? Nervous? Can you accept the responsibility if someone on your team performs poorly, or do you use them as the sacrificial lamb when your own boss wants to know why you missed a deadline?
I could continue to list downsides of being in management, but I think you get the point. What I have to wonder is, why is this position so sought after? I am doing what I do not for money or for power, but because I have always enjoyed building teams. I love the challenge of managing time and people to get projects done. I also like mentoring and sharing my experience with other developers to help guide them into better practices and habits in the hopes that a better product will be the result. I do all of this with the full knowledge that there are many downsides to the job, but I enjoy other aspects enough that I don’t mind. At the same time, I worked damn hard to get where I am today and I also actively sought opportunities. The question I used to hear so often when I was younger was “How do you get into management?” Truthfully, it’s like any job. You have to keep an eyes and ears open for new opportunities and display the qualities that the people hiring will want. Chances are you will need to work your way into positions that will allow you to demonstrate management skills. When there were no other team leads on a project I designated myself the lead developer by right of experience and expertise. This might seem presumptuous but it’s not as uncommon as you might think. Once I was accepted as a team lead I found it easy to become a team lead elsewhere. This eventually led into the opportunity as a Technical Team Lead, which I used as a springboard into my current position.
This also comes with a fair amount of rejection. Before delcaring myself Ruler of North America Lead Developer I had been turned down for positions as a Project Manager, Senior Developer, Lead Developer, Application Architect, and Senior Project Lead. For every step up in my career I have met with at least three failures or outright rejections to advance. I hear the complaints of “I just can’t get ahead”, but how do you get ahead if you never make your intentions known? I was surprised at my last review to find out two people on my team had management aspirations that they never spoke of before then. Hey, as your boss I consider it my job to help you succeed.
However, I still do not understand the desire some people place on entering management. People who do not want the headaches, the issues, the meetings, the isolation, and the rejection that are all part of the price still want the money (yeah right) and power (hah!) that comes with the position. Let me tell you a little secret, I know software developers who make more than I do as a manager. Also, I’m only one level higher on an org chart than the people who report to me. If you enjoy your job and are good at it, consider alternatives to being in management. You can retire quite nicely in a white collar profession without ever achieving a lofty title. If you really want to get into management, if that is really a goal of yours, then don’t complain about what comes with it. I always liked how I read the guys at Penny Arcade. “If your job is to eat bees you can’t complain about getting stung”.
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