How to Really Put Down the Tools and Get Back to Being a Manager

How$to$Really$Put$Down$the$Tools$
and$Get$Back$to$Being$a$Manager

New$tech$managers$make$all$sorts$of$mistakes.$Some$are$small$and$
private,$some$are$very$public<<and$embarrassing.
But$there’s$one$mistake$all$managers$make$during$their$ﬁrst$year,$
and$it’s$this:$they$don’t$put$down$the$tools.

The$problem$is$that$when$managers$insist$
on$trying$to$be$programmers$as$well$as$
managers,$things$fall$apart.$You$can’t$work$
on$the$assembly$line,$try$to$keep$it$
running,$and$maintain$your$sanity.

But,%But…%What%if%I%Can’t%Put%Down%the%Tools?

We#all#fall#into#the#trap#of#trying#to#be#the#
hero#when#the#house#is#burning#down.#It’s#
a#great#and#noble#inten8on.
And$in$&mes$of$stress,$it’s$easy$to$try$to$
depend$on$your$own$uber6geek$brain$for$a$
hands6on$solu&on.$I$understand.

However,(when(you(know(this(cardinal(rule(and(you(pick(up(the(
tools(anyway,(there(are(only(a(handful(of(reasons.(If(you(see(
yourself(in(one(of(these(examples,(never(fear.(You(can(get(the(work(
done(and(be(an(eﬀec?ve(manager.

Why$You$Think$You$Can’t$Put$Down$the$Tools

I"understand"the"pressures"of"being"a"leader"while"producing"high"
quality"code"under"scru7ny"of"your"team"and"upper"management."
Please"understand"that"I’m"not"placing"blame—I’m"shining"a"light"on"
false"beliefs"that"will"handicap"you"un7l"you"give"them"up.

1.#You#don’t#want#to.
Even%though%you’ve%been%promoted,%you%
s4ll%have%the%impression%that%your%value%to%
the%company%is%in%your%abili4es%as%a%
programmer.%Unless%you’re%coding,%you%
don’t%feel%like%you’re%actually%working.

2.#You#just#can’t#help#yourself.
No#ma&er#how#hard#you#try,#you#can’t#step#away#from#the#IDE.#It’s#
a#compulsion,#plain#and#simple.

3.#Your#organiza-on#requires#you#to#code#as#part#of#your#job#
descrip-on.
You’d&like&to&focus&on&your&management&du5es&instead&of&your&
coding&du5es,&but&you’re&afraid&you’ll&lose&respect&or&your&job&if&you&
do.&You&may&work&in&an&organiza5on&that&requires&managers&to&
code.

Seeing&the&problem&is&great,&but&having&real&solu4ons&is&even&be5er.&
A8er&years&of&hun4ng&for&decent&role&models&and&experimenta4on,&
here’s&my&go?to&list&of&strategies&to&stay&out&of&the&IDE.&

You$don’t$want$to$stop…$but$you$could.

Admit&that&you&love&coding,"you’re"proud"
of"your"skills,"and"you’re"afraid"they’re"
going"to"deteriorate"as"you"spend"less"
5me"in"front"of"a"screen.
Yes,%eventually%you%will%see%other%team%
members’%skills%bypass%your%own,%but%you%
now%have%the%ability%to%build%teams,%not%
just%so9ware.%There’s'so'much'you'can'
accomplish'even'though'your'hands'
aren’t'crea6ng'so7ware'every'day.

Take%a%good%look%at%why%you%wanted%to%be%in%management%in%the%
ﬁrst%place.
Was$it$to$do$even$more$coding?$Of$course$not.$Seek$out$the$places$
where$you$can$iden<fy$and$remove$roadblocks$for$your$team.$You$
want$to$train$yourself$to$think$like$a$manager,$not$a$programmer.

Remember&that&this&is&a&process.
If#you#are#commi-ed#to#the#idea#of#being#a#great&manager#(are#
you?)#you#will#have#to#put#down#the#tools#more#and#more,#
especially#if#you#are#managing#a#team#of#more#than#two#people.#
Even#if#it#feels#awkward#now,#lay#in#a#plan#to#release#more#and#
more#of#the#programming#to#your#team#and#dedicate#that#@me#to#
management#ac@vi@es.

You$want$to$stop…$but$you$keep$ge1ng$
sucked$back$in.

Watch&for&behavioral&triggers
Pay$a%en(on$to$what$you’re$thinking$and$saying$just$before$you$
stalk$over$to$the$computer==again.$Chances$are,$this$is$what’s$going$
through$your$brain:
“They&don’t&get&it!”
“I’m&the&only&one&who&understands&this&stuﬀ.”
“Why&can’t&anyone&else&ﬁgure&this&out?”

Sound&familiar?&When&you&hear&this&kind&of&blaming&and&frustra7on,&
it’s&a&clear&signal&that&you&need&to&invest&more&in&your&team.&If#their#
skills#are#lacking,#then#it’s#on#you#to#get#them#up#to#speed.
Think&of&it&this&way:&If&you&don’t&take&the&4me&to&teach&them&these&
skills,&what’s&going&to&happen&when&you&go&on&vaca4on&or&have&an&
emergency?&Take&oﬀ&the&hero’s&cape&and&build&a&team&that&can&
support&you.

!Become&a&force&mul,plier.
It’s%easy%to%jump%back%in,%thinking%that%one%
more%body%=%more%produc9vity.%

If#no#one#has#an#eye#on#the#produc1on#line,#then#details#get#
dropped#and#small#problems#get#out#of#control88quickly.#Yes,#even#if#
you#have#a#very#lean#team#of#two#to#four#people,#a#dedicated#
manager#can#make#a#massive#diﬀerence.
With%a%leader%in%place,%keeping%down3me%and%preventable%errors%to%
a%minimum,%those%two%or%three%programmers’%produc3vity%can%
increase%10=25%%(I’ve%seen%it!),%completely%surpassing%the%
contribu3on%you%could%make%in%your%distracted%and%stressed=out%
state.

Your%company%requires%you%to%code

It#takes#a#lot#of#courage#to#buck#the#system,#but#it#can#happen.#
When%I%went%to%my%manager%and%requested%the%elimina5on%of%my%
coding%responsibili5es,%he%was%really%hesitant.%He%ﬁnally%agreed%to%a%
3?month%experiment,%which%completely%proved%that%coding%less%
made%my%team%stronger.%But%if%your%situa5on%doesn’t%allow%for%
that...

Get$some$perspec+ve.
Ask$other$managers$how$they$wedge$in$coding$with$their$other$
responsibili6es.$I’m$guessing$you’ll$hear$that$they’re$near$the$
breaking$point$as$well.$But$if$they’re$doing$well,$ask$them$to$mentor$
you.

Priori%ze(the(team’s(needs(over(your(own.
No,$this$doesn’t$mean$that$you$should$work$yourself$to$the$
breaking$point.$I’m$sugges;ng$that$you$focus$on$the$ac;vi;es$that$
make$the$team$more$eﬀec;ve,$and$put$your$eﬀorts$there$instead$of$
coding.

Maybe&that&means&having&a&stand0up&mee3ng&every&day&or&making&
sure&salespeople&and&customers&talk&to&you&instead&of&your&team&
members.&Find&the&black&holes&and&manage&them.

Keep$a$log$of$*me$spent$coding.
Find%out%exactly%how%you’re%using%your%5me,%then%start%inves5ng%
more%of%that%5me%in%management%ac5vi5es,%like%training,%delega5ng%
and%communica5ng.

The$best$way$to$keep$yourself$out$of$coding’s$powerful$tractor$
beam$is$to$commit$yourself$to$management$ac9vi9es.$Just$as$a$
smokers$need$to$replace$the$sa9sfying$rituals$they$used$before$
ligh9ng$up,$you$need$to$develop$alternate$habits$to$keep$from$
falling$back$into$a$programmer$mindset.

Start%your%day%with%some%management%ac3vity%to%put%yourself%in%
that%headspace%ﬁrst%thing%in%the%morning.%Don’t%get%sucked%into%
dealing%with%bugs%right%oﬀ%the%bat.
Schedule%mee3ngs%for%code%review,%planning,%resource%alloca3on,%
etc.%Actually%put%them%on%your%calendar%so%you%drive%home%their%
importance.

Make%a%plan%to%reduce%your%coding%2me%to%
0%%so%you%can%manage%100%.%Follow%your%
ins2ncts%when%you%ﬁnd%yourself%thinking,%
“I%should%communicate%with%my%team%
more.”
Please&don’t&be&a&skep/c.
I"know"it’s"hard"to"believe"that"le3ng"go"
of"coding"responsibili8es"equals"lost"
produc8on"and"exper8se,"but"leveraging"
your"8me"for"be?er"team"dynamics"will"
make"everyone’s"life"easier.

Become&a&Be(er&Technical&Manager
I"get"paid"to"coach"newly"minted"technical"managers."My"clients"
quickly"feel"drama:cally"more"conﬁdent"and"capable"and"start"
seeing"be=er"performance"from"themselves"and"their"team"within"
weeks.
I"am"taking"the"same"insigh-ul,"ac2onable"lessons"I"teach"in"my"
coaching"and"pu8ng"them"out"as"a"free"newsle<er."
Sign%up%to%become%a%be/er%manager%here%>>

How to Really Put Down the Tools and Get Back to Being a Manager

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