Not a WTF - just an interesting quote
-
I heard someone say this and it made me think about all kinds of stuff:
"I don't need to be smart to succeed; just persistent. I'm not any smarter than anyone else; I've just lived longer, consumed more alcohol and killed more brain cells, yet I'm still here with the best of them."
Aren't IT managers generally older than those they manage? If so, are their brains fried from all the (pick one: booze, drugs, lack-of-sex, ...)? It would explain a lot of stuff they seem to do whaen "managing"...
-
@lichens said:
I heard someone say this and it made me think about all kinds of stuff:
"I don't need to be smart to succeed; just persistent. I'm not any smarter than anyone else; I've just lived longer, consumed more alcohol and killed more brain cells, yet I'm still here with the best of them."
Aren't IT managers generally older than those they manage? If so, are their brains fried from all the (pick one: booze, drugs, lack-of-sex, ...)? It would explain a lot of stuff they seem to do whaen "managing"...
The sad fact that this is 100% true, although its usually one low level guy who knows a shitload of everything, and due to FUD, gets held down.
-
Generally I think that IT managers need a certain amount of experience to be of any use. Someone fresh from the college probably knows all the latest and greatest technologies, but that's not enough to succeed in a real IT department with real people, real users and real problems.
For that reason, I think the minimum age is a result of the experience requirement. That doesn't mean that old people must become IT managers; in their team, they can have programmers older than the managers.
-
Managers are (generally speaking) older than the people they manage and that is right. I'm no football player and so I want to have a job when I get a little older, I think that we all can be managers in 20 years. This way we don't need to retire at 40.
Remember folks it's time to stop crying about the old man who doesn't know a bit because someday you will be the old man and you will need to work to maintain your vices.
-
Contrary to popular belief, your boss was probably an expert not to long ago.
Technology just moved past him. After all, his job is to manage now. WTF does he need technology for?
-
I for one don't agree that experience is the only factor in a person getting a position as a manager. When I started college I got a part time job as a CSR(Customer Server Representative - the "professional" name for "the guy at the till") in my local Donimo's Pizza. And after only a few short months I was bumped up to Shift Manager, where I stayed working for 3 years. Now currently I managing an Internet Cafe.
Sure experience is the major factor in choosing someone for a management position. However if someone can learn extremely quickly, has the patience to deal with people and understands how to motivate their staff to get the most out of them and make sure they're always happy, then that is the key to a really brilliant manager.
-
@Hitsuji said:
I for one don't agree that experience is the only factor in a person getting a position as a manager. When I started college I got a part time job as a CSR(Customer Server Representative - the "professional" name for "the guy at the till") in my local Donimo's Pizza. And after only a few short months I was bumped up to Shift Manager, where I stayed working for 3 years. Now currently I managing an Internet Cafe.
What you are talking about is the kind of manager who has little or no decisions to make since everything is written in The Golden Book Of Rules. This is a very different situation compared to an IT manager, who has to make tough decisions like which technology to use, which systems to buy, which projects to make in-house and which to oursource etc.
-
@Isuwen said:
Contrary to popular belief, your boss was probably an expert not to long ago.
Technology just moved past him. After all, his job is to manage now. WTF does he need technology for?
Now that it's becoming acceptable (for various broad definitions of acceptable.) to fire people over SMS or email, every manager needs to know at least a little technology. (Or have a secretary with a cell phone)
-
@ammoQ said:
Generally I think that IT managers need a certain amount of experience to be of any use. Someone fresh from the college probably knows all the latest and greatest technologies, but that's not enough to succeed in a real IT department with real people, real users and real problems.
For that reason, I think the minimum age is a result of the experience requirement. That doesn't mean that old people must become IT managers; in their team, they can have programmers older than the managers.I'd take it a step further and say that the experience requirement is a result of the skills requirement. As you said, you have to be good at dealing with real people to manage. That's a skill that usually takes time for IT people to develop, because they spend their pimply faced youth learning to program instead. I say usually, because there are also lots of examples of young people who get into IT management, and hopefully that's a sign that they've developed the necessary skills earlier than their peers, rather than an indication that somebody got a leg up by becoming someone else's "project".
