dshield wrote: I'm afraid that if someone unrelated to our team takes the role, what little joy is left in going to work will quickly disappear. You're probably right. It may be that the only way you can preserve it is to take the position. dshield wrote: But I also think (hope?) that I'll have some small influence over the way things get done both politically and technically if I were to be a manager. Right, again! You may, in fact, have a great deal of influence and might surprise yourself with a skillset you don't realize that you have. Management isn't a separate thing, or it shouldn't be, it's a part of the team right alongside the engineers and programmers. dshield wrote: Has anyone else been in a similar situation? And if so, what did you do, and how did it work out? Yup, most of my life. Before I was out of school I was made team leader - a euphemism for a sucker with all the responsibility and none of the authority. But the good part was that I got to do all the requirements analysis, the conceptual design, and partition each project into modules for each of my team. The most intriguing parts I kept for myself, as I was also expected to do design and programming on top of managing. Those were fun times, and I discovered that I have a knack for management. It became dull, though, many years later when I was managing multiple companies and designing nothing myself - watch out for that. Often technical people who excell at what they love most are pushed into upper management too soon, and it can lead to rapid burnout. There's a point in your life when you are ready to let go of the details and direct the big picture, but taking the step into a purely management role before you get there causes problems for you and your team. I'd go for it, were I you. It sounds like a hands-on level of management where you'll still be able to get your hands dirty and have fun. At the same time, you'll be in a position to protect your people from idiots so that they can do what they love doing. Good luck!:) Nobody wants to read a diary by someone who has not seen the shadow of Bubba on the prison shower wall in front of them!
Paul Watson, on BLOGS and privacy - 1/16/2003
