I’ve come to some realizations while watching some, ummm managers at another company. Yes that’s it.
One ponders the question “Why do you want to be a manager”.
1) I’m stupid so I can be a great manager and lead the company to nowhere.
2) I know how to spend money at home, what’s the difference?
3) I can budget money, that’s what the checkbook’s for right? So managing a budget at work is no different.
4) I buy things at home for the important people (me) and the others, just have to make do. This philosophy has served me well.
Seriously, where is it written that just because things have been done “this way”, that “this way” will forevermore be THE ONLY CORRECT WAY? Well ok we’ve seen that in Amazon’s management books, but who are they? People who want to self-promote. Rant over. Bring the rain.
1) Give your top developers the best tools that money can buy. They will produce ten times more than the mediocres.
2) Fire all the mediocres. There is no room in a startup for those people.
3) Budgeting your department DOESN’T mean to say NO to every purchase that you’re asked for. If you trust them with developing the future of the company, they “PROBABLY” aren’t asking for crap that they won’t use. They are saying “I want to be more productive, please help me . . . .Spock. . . . help . . . . me. . . “. Why are you turning them away? For what a $500 piece of software. Are you batty? Fire yourself, THAT IS A SMART MOVE.
4) If they’re late or leave early an hour or 10 minutes. IT . . . IS . . . OK. The world will NOT stop turning ok? Don’t be so draconian to forget about what it means to be a drone. Its hellish sometimes. But guess what pinhead, when you NEED that person to work overtime, they won’t make an excuse to NOT work overtime. Use the T word THINK! (We should make a tshirt of this).
Ok I’m done. I’ve seen enough. I’m going home.
-T-
A correction to your own life: You LOVE 30 hour programming sessions. It is just overbearing when you work for the man all week and Joroto all night.
Realistically the number one reason for becoming a manger: “This is the natural progression of my professional life. It pays better and people will admire me, so I will apply for the job.”
Well its Saturday 7:20 AM, and the marketing department must take a nap. I must be prepared for the competitive mid-morning Team Fortress games. Oh yea, I will edit our new client’s contract…well, this week…probably.
Interesting that my Recaptcha for this post is “time”, “alluring”. And thus God speaks to me.