Both (low-level) management and (somewhat senior) technical. In previous work, as an owner of a tiny (10 employee) business, and as a line-level (4-12 direct reports, no indirect) software manager. For the last 20 years or so as an individual contributor, with no reports but a fair bit of org strategy and people-management input over a 600-person division in an extremely large corporation, with some interaction and discussion with very senior management (VP and SVP who have 8-10 levels of management between them and the most junior ICs).
There is certainly a fair amount of the stuff described here, but not to that extent and there’s also a _whole lot_ of object-level visibility (across all levels) of the intent to actually deliver stuff that works and attracts customers (and therefore revenue) over the medium- and long-term.
I pretty strongly suspect that different industries (and different companies within industries) are on different points on this scale. It’s quite possible that timeframe of object-level feedback loops and mobility of workforce force software companies to do better than established industrial companies who’ve managed to get government and market-perception protection of their revenue streams.
[ This applies generally, but I figure I should state it clearly here: unless otherwise stated, nothing I write is endorsed by my employer. It is solely based on my personal observations and opinions. And the necessity to include such a disclaimer is indicative that I do recognize some amount of CYA and dilbert-ism in my work. ]
It matches my experience in the corporate world pretty closely. Have you worked in management at all, or just in a technical role?
Both (low-level) management and (somewhat senior) technical. In previous work, as an owner of a tiny (10 employee) business, and as a line-level (4-12 direct reports, no indirect) software manager. For the last 20 years or so as an individual contributor, with no reports but a fair bit of org strategy and people-management input over a 600-person division in an extremely large corporation, with some interaction and discussion with very senior management (VP and SVP who have 8-10 levels of management between them and the most junior ICs).
There is certainly a fair amount of the stuff described here, but not to that extent and there’s also a _whole lot_ of object-level visibility (across all levels) of the intent to actually deliver stuff that works and attracts customers (and therefore revenue) over the medium- and long-term.
I pretty strongly suspect that different industries (and different companies within industries) are on different points on this scale. It’s quite possible that timeframe of object-level feedback loops and mobility of workforce force software companies to do better than established industrial companies who’ve managed to get government and market-perception protection of their revenue streams.
[ This applies generally, but I figure I should state it clearly here: unless otherwise stated, nothing I write is endorsed by my employer. It is solely based on my personal observations and opinions. And the necessity to include such a disclaimer is indicative that I do recognize some amount of CYA and dilbert-ism in my work. ]