The Managerial/Technical Conundrum
[NOTE: This blog post replaces a previous one by the same name that was mistakenly uploaded before it was ready.]
Technical experts and engineers invariably reach a point in their careers where they have to decide whether to remain in a technical role or to move into a managerial position. For some, the decision is very easy. They may have absolutely no ambition to be the boss; they may recognize that their personalities are not suited to managing people or projects; or they might simply love the technical nature of their job, which they don't want to give up.
Alternatively, the thought of a management position may be an attractive one. Perhaps they will finally have the power to make decisions, affect change and manage projects the way they see fit. After years of slogging it out as a programmer, they can finally move into a role where they don't necessarily have to learn every new popular programming language; a cursory understanding will suffice. Also, sitting in the managerial chair, they will be able to see the impact of their project on the company's goals and objectives. And they will be able to call themselves "Manager".
Yet, for some, the decision isn't so clear cut. On one hand, engineers who have been in technical positions for a long time might have highly advanced programming or engineering skills, but their soft-skills may be lacking. Managers who are hired (or promoted) on the merit of their technical expertise may suddenly find themselves out of their depth.
George N. Andrew notes in his article (PDF):
On the other hand, the career opportunities for an engineer who takes the technical track are generally not as far reaching as for one who takes the management track. Technical experts who become successful managers can achieve positions such as senior executive, vice president or even CTO. The most engineers can hope for are positions such as Director or Fellow - they will not have the opportunity to advance much further than that, if at all. Their impact on the direction of the product or company is clearly limited.
Furthermore, veteran programmers have to fight against the perception that younger, ambitious programmers are more valuable than the older, more experienced engineers. When a 50 year old competes with a 25 year old for a job at a hi-tech start-up, he had better dye his hair and dress funky, because often the attitude is that the creative spark is the sole domain of exuberant, youthful and ambitious graduates.
So when you reach this fork in the road, how do you choose which direction to take?
Mrityunjay Kumar has a down-to-earth opinion on the matter:
I found many articles on the internet that discuss moving from a technical role to a managerial role, but precious few that talk about the reverse situation. It would seem that once you are a manager, going back to technical is seen as a demotion (although read F. John Reh's article about Inverse Promotions where he discusses a method of maintaining a manger's self-esteem while moving him from a managerial role, where he is floundering, to a technical role where he excels.) Even though the product could never be developed without the engineers, there is a perception that management is more prestigious.
Can you have a successful career if you constantly switch between technical and managerial positions?
Do you know of cases where a manager decided to cross to the other side of the tracks?
Is it really possible to combine both managerial and technical tasks into the one role?
Comments are most welcome!
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Technical experts and engineers invariably reach a point in their careers where they have to decide whether to remain in a technical role or to move into a managerial position. For some, the decision is very easy. They may have absolutely no ambition to be the boss; they may recognize that their personalities are not suited to managing people or projects; or they might simply love the technical nature of their job, which they don't want to give up.
Alternatively, the thought of a management position may be an attractive one. Perhaps they will finally have the power to make decisions, affect change and manage projects the way they see fit. After years of slogging it out as a programmer, they can finally move into a role where they don't necessarily have to learn every new popular programming language; a cursory understanding will suffice. Also, sitting in the managerial chair, they will be able to see the impact of their project on the company's goals and objectives. And they will be able to call themselves "Manager".
Yet, for some, the decision isn't so clear cut. On one hand, engineers who have been in technical positions for a long time might have highly advanced programming or engineering skills, but their soft-skills may be lacking. Managers who are hired (or promoted) on the merit of their technical expertise may suddenly find themselves out of their depth.
George N. Andrew notes in his article (PDF):
Supporting and leading a team requires a different skill set than supporting a system.In other words, management (and project management) is about communication, leadership and negotiation, rather than about understanding the product, innovating new ideas and solving technical problems.
On the other hand, the career opportunities for an engineer who takes the technical track are generally not as far reaching as for one who takes the management track. Technical experts who become successful managers can achieve positions such as senior executive, vice president or even CTO. The most engineers can hope for are positions such as Director or Fellow - they will not have the opportunity to advance much further than that, if at all. Their impact on the direction of the product or company is clearly limited.
Furthermore, veteran programmers have to fight against the perception that younger, ambitious programmers are more valuable than the older, more experienced engineers. When a 50 year old competes with a 25 year old for a job at a hi-tech start-up, he had better dye his hair and dress funky, because often the attitude is that the creative spark is the sole domain of exuberant, youthful and ambitious graduates.
So when you reach this fork in the road, how do you choose which direction to take?
Mrityunjay Kumar has a down-to-earth opinion on the matter:
Given the lack of clarity around these 2 tracks, people do what they do best in India when career choice is concerned: they take default career choices (what peers tend to do, what family and friends recommend, what the ‘in-thing’ is, etc) rather than being thoughtful about it. They forget that they need to choose what gives them better return on their talent investment over the entire career, which is a 40 year game.A questioner on this techexams.net message board asks the forum for advice: Should I remain technical, or should I take a managerial position offered to me by my company. The answers on the message board are overwhelmingly in favor of moving into a managerial role for the following reasons:
- You can take the managerial role and hire technical staff who suit your style
- It will open up new professional areas for you
- It will make you more marketable
- Management experience is good if you ultimately want to go out on your own
- Take the managerial position and see how it goes - if it doesn't work out, go back to technical
I found many articles on the internet that discuss moving from a technical role to a managerial role, but precious few that talk about the reverse situation. It would seem that once you are a manager, going back to technical is seen as a demotion (although read F. John Reh's article about Inverse Promotions where he discusses a method of maintaining a manger's self-esteem while moving him from a managerial role, where he is floundering, to a technical role where he excels.) Even though the product could never be developed without the engineers, there is a perception that management is more prestigious.
Can you have a successful career if you constantly switch between technical and managerial positions?
Do you know of cases where a manager decided to cross to the other side of the tracks?
Is it really possible to combine both managerial and technical tasks into the one role?
Comments are most welcome!
Subscribe to Y. Karp? Why Not! or follow on Facebook (see the side-bar).
Add this blog to your RSS feed reader
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