Tina Norris Fields
tinanfields at torchlake.com
Fri Apr 4 15:19:09 CDT 2008
Arthur, Your question brings back to mind an article I read in Marshall Goldsmith and Laurence Lyons' "Coaching for Leadership (second edition)." The article is by David Noer, and it is called "Surviving the Transition from Line Manager to Executive Coach." Not all that different from the transition you are considering, really. Noer makes the point that many of the skills that made one very good in one job are often not the precise skills that will make one good in the next job, be it promotion or just change. For instance, he looks at what he calls the "ings" of management and of coaching. The transition calls for the person to go from controlling to helping, from evaluating to empowering, from directing to supporting, and from planning to listening. From Noer's advice I take this central point: examine what the skills are that got you here and compare them to the skills you will need in the next career. That inventory will give you the starting place for 1) deciding if this change is one you really want, and 2) if it is, what areas you will need to concentrate on. In the same book, another article "Making the Transition from Executive to Executive Coach," by Brian Tracy, explores more of the strategy for marketing oneself in a proposed new career. Tracy's target audience is the successful executive who is retiring, but doesn't want to sit in the rocking chair twiddling his thumbs and watching the world go by - rather, this retiree wants a second career. Tracy's advice is essentially, figure out your best talents and skills, scout out the competition, select a specialized niche for yourself, then promote yourself strategically. A side note here - this book was a required text in the final course of my master's degree program - yes, I completed the program and received my master's degree on January 26, 2008! This textbook was not my favorite book, but it does have some solid thinking. Here's the beginning of Tracy's article. "What is the highest paid work in America? Thinking! The value and importance of any decision can be measured by the likely consequences of that decision. The highest paid work in America is thinking because of the enormous possible consequences of thinking well or thinking poorly. Your ability to think effectively, and to help other people think effectively about their lives and work, are more important than any other contribution you can make." Now, Canada and the USA aren't all that different, I imagine, at least not on this point. Your ability to think effectively is your most important strength. Without a doubt it is that ability that has made you the excellent programmer you are. And, let's face it, if you can learn to program in the several environments you have already mastered, it is unlikely that any new programming language is going to whip you. So what if you don't know all the syntax of some new language - you know how to logically lay out the solution to a problem, and you can always look up how to say something in a new language. It strikes me too, that in many ways you are already a project manager, as well as the developer. You've been carrying out all the roles instead of just one. So, it may not be all that big a shift for you to continue coming up with the projects, changing only the fact that you no longer work them alone, but you hire younger developers to work for you on the projects you have contracted. From what I know of you, Arthur, I'm absolutely confident that if this is what you want to do you will do it and do it well. Okay, I've prattled on long enough. I hope some of it was helpful. Best regards, Tina Arthur Fuller wrote: > At my ripe old age, I am pondering becoming a manager of software projects > rather than a developer of same. I have occasionally led a team of > developers toward a project goal, but more often been the principal > developer of a project. I am wondering how to make the leap. While realizing > that this is a list for developers, I also think that this might be the best > place to ask this question. > > I know a lot about Access. > I know a little about .NET. > I know a fair amount about PHP and Python Ruby and Ruby on Rails. > I know a little about some strange languages used by very few, including > OCaml. > > I have only occasionally been team-lead in a multi-developer project. I > think I did pretty well in them. > > So how does one go from Developer to Manager of Developers? I think that I'm > growing too old to be there in the trenches of develpment, and yet that's > what I love and know best. But I think that the young recent graduates have > the "stay up until it works" enthusiasm that I no longer have, although > that's not always true; I've recently spent 40 hours solid at the box > solving a particularly difficult problem, and couldn't quit until I finally > cornered the ornery pig and wrestled him down. But perhaps a younger, > brighter person could have wrestled said pig down much more quickly than I, > which leads to a rather sickening and embarrassing conclusion (following the > Peter Principle): the best thing to do with Arthur is promote him. > > So, how to become a manager of programmers who are far more gifted in > languages that I know a little about? How does one go from Here to There? > How do I admit in my resume that I know a fair amount about the abstract > language of programming but perhaps nothing at all about the language your > project is using? > > What are the credentials of a Project Manager? I am particularly interested > in asking this question here, since you are all programmers, which perhaps > turns the question into "What values would you desire in your project > manager?". > > One could trivialize this question into, "Just learn MS-Project" but that is > hardly the point. Any fool can write a critical path. That's not the issue > at all. As I see it (and admittedly I know nothing about the subject), there > are two issues|perspectives: > > 1. Tell the team what needs to be done and how quickly. > 2. Tell the superiors why it cannot possibly happen in said time-frame + > expense-dollars. > > On both sides, I am guaranteed to meet resistance. Developers will say, > "Impossible!" Superiors will say, "Impossible!" And the job of managing a > software project is to get each team to bend a little. > > Of course, I know nothing about this profession, which was the whole point > of this message. I'm looking for direction, courses to take, casual advice, > and so on. I actually dare to presume that I could be fairly good at this > profession, but perhaps not. Perhaps I'm an in-the-trenches guy not destined > to coach the team. That could be. > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > >