Michael Lopp Quotes That Will Inspire You to Live Your Best Life

1. First, you can assume all the engineers are players. They obviously have technical knowledge they may throw on the table, otherwise why were they invited? The product-management person is also a player as she represents the sales folks in this meeting. Program managers in these meetings are pawns. They’ll make sure action items are recorded and that the meeting ends on time. Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

2. Forty-five minutes after the meeting began, I did something I’d never ever done before. I walked out of a meeting where I was a key player because I simply couldn’t waste any more time on this uselessness. Stood up, walked out, and slammed the door. Yes, it’s an emotional move that is almost always a bad move in business, but near the top of my list of professional pet peeves is the following: Do not waste my time. Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

3. I recently got into a war of words with a coworker regarding the proper solution to a problem with one of our products. As an aside, let me say that e-mail is never ever ever never ever the right way to resolve controversy. Too much subtlety is lost when you’re YELLING IN ALL CAPS at your program manager. Don’t waste your time solving problems in e-mail. Stand up. Walk down the hall. And look the person in the eye. You’ll live longer. Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

4. Remember, managers are hubs of communication (see Chapter 12). The better they communicate across these sphere boundaries, the more people they can communicate with, and the more data they have. This consequently leads to better decision making. Ultimately, stronger communicators make better-informed decisions, and hopefully they are more successful because they waste less time wondering what to do. Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

5. Whether it’s my manager or my coworker, when I find myself in an organic/mechanic conflict, I think this:A purely mechanical organization lacks inspiration. A purely organic organization is total chaos. Organics fill mechanical blind spots with their intuition and their passion while mechanics create a healthy, solid home where nutty organics can run into things at speed. It’s a team thing. Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager