There is often a big difference between political goals and making things work, especially at large companies. Very often, the political goals don't actually "work", in a technical sense, but they do in a political one. And vice versa.
While the big deals are made among managers, at the personal end it's the engineers you trust. They don't try to get you to buy your stuff, no matter if you need it, but want to make things work better and have an interesting time making it so.
For our software department, we have more work than we can manage, literally and figuratively. All our software engineers are "self-managing", and our customers (from small to very large) react much more positive to one of us having a chat, than the managers and salesmen from other companies. And we don't even try to sell them stuff!
We are only managed by our managers (who are mostly engineers as well, but someone has to do the paperwork) if we ask for it. And it seems to work out well: we have to say "no" about half the time, because we haven't got the manpower to do it. Even while we grow steadily. Although finding people who fit in is not easy.
That stands in stark contrast to the general wisdom, that engineers should be kept on a tight leash, and that you cannot have them talk to customers. Because they don't communicate your goals, like how much more of their budget you want, or how you want to handle that project to become (one of) their preffered supplier(s). And you cannot run a business without all that, can you?
An interesting point is large projects. In my experience, the people involved tend to gravitate towards the tasks they like best, and all the nesscesary work is eventually done, even without actual management. Although you need to motivate them and give them a goal they think they can reach, depending on their background and interests. But that's something you should ask an engineer to do in the first place. Leadership by example versus management. And the projects get finished, without much fuss, budget overruns or meetings.
So, wouldn't it be better not to manage your techies? A bit like the RPSC forum? I think so. Just let them do whatever they like, as long as they bring in enough money. Which doesn't seem to be any problem, if they're allowed to go to customers as often as they feel like.
While the big deals are made among managers, at the personal end it's the engineers you trust. They don't try to get you to buy your stuff, no matter if you need it, but want to make things work better and have an interesting time making it so.
For our software department, we have more work than we can manage, literally and figuratively. All our software engineers are "self-managing", and our customers (from small to very large) react much more positive to one of us having a chat, than the managers and salesmen from other companies. And we don't even try to sell them stuff!
We are only managed by our managers (who are mostly engineers as well, but someone has to do the paperwork) if we ask for it. And it seems to work out well: we have to say "no" about half the time, because we haven't got the manpower to do it. Even while we grow steadily. Although finding people who fit in is not easy.
That stands in stark contrast to the general wisdom, that engineers should be kept on a tight leash, and that you cannot have them talk to customers. Because they don't communicate your goals, like how much more of their budget you want, or how you want to handle that project to become (one of) their preffered supplier(s). And you cannot run a business without all that, can you?
An interesting point is large projects. In my experience, the people involved tend to gravitate towards the tasks they like best, and all the nesscesary work is eventually done, even without actual management. Although you need to motivate them and give them a goal they think they can reach, depending on their background and interests. But that's something you should ask an engineer to do in the first place. Leadership by example versus management. And the projects get finished, without much fuss, budget overruns or meetings.
So, wouldn't it be better not to manage your techies? A bit like the RPSC forum? I think so. Just let them do whatever they like, as long as they bring in enough money. Which doesn't seem to be any problem, if they're allowed to go to customers as often as they feel like.
