Home > Work > Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager
61 " Your bellwether team is where you gather the most perspective. The coworker interviews are going to find some informational gems, and their opinions will greatly affect your decision to hire, but bellwethers are your constant. When they tell you, “This guy is going to change the face of your team,” you believe them because they are rarely wrong. There are three key bellwethers I have for each interview. "
― Michael Lopp , Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager
62 " The difference between a manager who knows what’s going on in an organization and one who is a purely politically driven slimeball is thin. But I would take either of those over some passive manager who lets the organization happen to him. "
63 " A manager’s job is to transform his glaring deficiency into a strength by finding the best person to fill it and trusting him to do the job. "
64 " I hired you because you’ve got enough skill and enough will to have my job one day … whether you want it or not. "
65 " In order to manage human beings in the moment, you’ve got to be one. "
66 " Managers who don’t have a plan to talk to everyone on their team regularly are deluded. "
67 " Managers who don’t have a plan to talk to everyone on their team regularly are deluded. They believe they are going to learn what is going on in their group through some magical organizational osmosis and they won’t. Ideas will not be discovered, talent will be ignored, and the team will slowly begin to believe what they think does not matter, and the team is the company. "
68 " in the absence of information, people will create their own. "
69 " Stay flexible, remember what it means to be an engineer, and don’t stop developing. "
70 " people are the best puzzles you’ll never solve. "
71 " Status reports usually show up because a distant executive feels out of touch with part of his or her organization, and they believe getting everyone to efficiently document their week is going to help. It doesn’t. "
72 " They don’t rule by mandate; they influence by being great at what they do. At a prior gig, the threat of a DNA meeting pushed us to prepare in extraordinary ways. Our goal was to predict every single question that might be asked and have every answer in our back pocket. Winning in the meeting was silence. "
73 " there is no reason that a manager shouldn’t be participating in this massive global cross-pollination information cluster-fuck "
74 " This engineer in training had now experienced two essential emotions: the joy of creation and the satisfaction of learning while gaining experience, perfecting the craft. "
75 " Give it 30 minutes, at least: Another favorite move of the busy manager is to schedule a one-on-one for 15 minutes or less. It’s the best I can do, Rands. I’ve got 15 people working for me. First, those 15 people don’t work for you; you work for them. "
76 " The Ninety-Day Interview. Eight steps to following during your first ninety days. 1. Stay Late, Show Up Early. 2. Accept Every Lunch Invitation You Get. 3. Always Ask About Acronyms. 4. Say Something Really Stupid. 5. Have a Drink. 6. Tell Someone What to Do. 7. Have an Argument. 8. Find Your Inner Circle. "
77 " A one-on-one is a place to listen for what your employee isn’t saying. "
78 " engineers here: a class of human being that derives professional joy from the building of things—specific things. Things they can sit back and stare at—look there!—I built that thing. "
79 " gossip, rumors, and lies, "
80 " Ironically, the second most common complaint I’ve heard from frustrated employees is, “My manager has no idea what I do.” It’s good to know the problem goes both ways, no? "