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Jörgen Andersson wrote: What have the Swiss done to you?
Nothing. I was just commenting about how to change a culture. 
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Indeed.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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Jörgen Andersson wrote: I'd say it is a matter of culture.
Or in our case, a lack of it. 
Too many people just do not understand the value of life.
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
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Ah, but that's down to great chocolate, a cool knife and some seriously cuckoo clocks.
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And cheese, you forgot the cheese.
Some years ago I wen't to Zug in Switzerland to install a server. During lunch I asked the people how to make a proper cheese fondue. During the next two hours I learned a lot about cheese, and Swiss culture.
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There are holes in your argument.
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There's more to it than what you read on the surface....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_gun_laws[^]
The Swiss army has long been a militia trained and structured to rapidly respond against foreign aggression. Swiss males grow up expecting to undergo basic military training, usually at age 20 in the Rekrutenschule (recruit school), the basic-training camp, after which Swiss men remain part of the "militia" in reserve capacity until age 30 (age 34 for officers).
Each soldier is required to keep his army-issued personal weapon (the 5.56x45mm Sig 550 rifle for enlisted personnel and/or the 9mm SIG P220 semi-automatic pistol for officers, military police, medical and postal personnel) at home or (as of 2010) in the local armoury (Zeughaus). Up until October 2007, ammunition (50 rounds 5.56 mm / 48 rounds 9mm) was issued as well, which was sealed and inspected regularly to ensure that no unauthorized use had taken place.[4] The ammunition was intended for use while travelling to the army barracks in case of invasion.
In October 2007, the Swiss Federal Council decided that the distribution of ammunition to soldiers shall stop and that all previously issued ammo shall be returned. By March 2011, more than 99% of the ammo has been received. Only special rapid deployment units and the military police still store ammunition at home today.[5]
When their period of service has ended, militiamen have the choice of keeping their personal weapon and other selected items of their equipment.[citation needed] Keeping the weapon after end of service requires a license.
The government sponsors training with rifles and shooting in competitions for interested adolescents, both male and female.
A "shooting society " somewhere in Switzerland; people come to such ranges to complete mandatory training with service arms, or to shoot for sport and competition.
A "shooting society" somewhere in Switzerland; people come to such ranges to complete mandatory training with service arms, or to shoot for sport and competition.
The sale of ammunition – including Gw Pat.90 rounds for army-issue assault rifles – is subsidized by the Swiss government and made available at the many shooting ranges patronized by both private citizens and members of the militia. There is a regulatory requirement that ammunition sold at ranges must be used there.
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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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It's actually a good question[^].
If managers doesn't what his/her underlings create, does that make them a worse manager?
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Err, yes. Sadly we don't always get the time.
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While I think it's a good idea that the manager understand the code I don't necessarily thin it critical.
As long as there's more than one person that understands the code he should be in good shape.
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Developers should develop and managers should manage.
However, a manager of developers should have been a developer.
People who have managed bakeries or banks are plainly not suitable to manage software developers.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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Quote: People who have managed bakeries or banks are plainly not suitable to manage software developers.
Are you sure? Donuts and money are pretty good motivators. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.
- Mitchell Kapor
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I agree and it's not just something that applies in the coding world.
Any manager needs to be able to understand what it is his/her minions do, how they do it, what they do it with, pitfalls, etc. etc. which by and large means experience in that role.
As a mainframe engineer back in the day, the best managers I had were the ones who moved up from the ranks. There were a couple who moved in sideways and were bean counters by trade. Worthless tossers the pair of them. Really good at adding up numbers but clueless as to how an engineering service actually operated on the ground.
If your neighbours don't listen to The Ramones, turn it up real loud so they can.
“We didn't have a positive song until we wrote 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue!'” ― Dee Dee Ramone
"The Democrats want my guns and the Republicans want my porno mags and I ain't giving up either" - Joey Ramone
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If they can, they should, even if just to keep up to date with the tools their teams are using. Managers who cannot code at all, are a hazard to everyone around them.
Christian Graus
My new article series is all about SQL !!!
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I wouldn't take it that far, but I believe that managers that lacks the knowledge, aren't able to take the right decisions.
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Yes, agreed.
Christian Graus
My new article series is all about SQL !!!
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If there are differences in opinion about architectural decisions and those differences are between his senior architects or developers it would be really nice if he had a notion about what is going on.
modified 20-Oct-19 21:02pm.
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One of the best bosses I worked for was a developer who got promoted to VP of Engineering and no longer had time to do what needed doing.
Another good boss I had had become Director of IT and only had time to work on the UI. I worked on everything else.
But it seems that to a great extent, that article applies mainly to small teams, where the loss of one developer is a high percentage of the force.
For larger teams, it seems less critical that the manager be able to code, but ease of bringing new members in is still important.
This space intentionally left blank.
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I'm just changing my job role from developer to a more management-y position atm; one of things I'm really happy about with my new employer is that it's mandatory for me to maintain my development skills. For me, I don't think that management need to be writing 'production' code as a matter of course - but they need to be capable of doing it [competently], and able to function at that level. Learning a new skillset doesn't mean abandoning old ones!
--
What's a signature?
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Good luck to you.
I made the transition years ago, and I still code and manage.
I cannot imagine managing developers without understanding the process, the people, the style.
Although I have to recommend learning about management, like you do a language.
You need to determine your management style, and approach to handle your team.
I still like the "One Minute Manager" book. It shaped me when I was young, and just after
having had a terrible Software Development Manager. You know, the one that teaches you
what you WILL NEVER Do if you ever manage people!
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Thanks for the advice, that's very useful
--
What's a signature?
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Define IT. IT in inside parlance, is typically not engineering, but handling the company infrastructure, in which case, the best I've worked with can code scripts and that's about it. They could, however, make VMWare and routers proverbially dance and sing.
I believe Engineering managers should have done some engineering, though simply respecting engineering may be good enough for a rare individual. The best manager I've ever had by magnitudes was a former hardware engineer. The second best I had couldn't write code if his life depended on it, but could close sales like no tomorrow and the customers loved him. The third best was a working software engineer who spent most of his time coding, but he was a rare creature. ALL respected engineering and the time it takes, could quickly grasp the core of issues and, most importantly, enabled us engineers to do our jobs and shielded us from the bullshit of upper management.
(Thinking more about this, I believe the qualities that make a good manager and a good developer are different. Great managers not only need to see the big picture, but need to know how to handle people. They need to know how to digest information given them and be able to distinguish priorities. Most importantly, they need to have a really good BS meter. I've worked with few engineers, and even fewer brilliant engineers, who show these qualities.
On the flip side, the one common trait amongst the terrible management I've had is that they didn't respect the engineering process. In general, they thought that simply demanding results was sufficient.)
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I think the size of the group is the determining factor. I manage a software development group that has 25 members. I started as a hardware guy, became a programmer and eventually moved to management. Being a good programmer will no longer advance my career. But being a better programmer and having new programming opportunities are essential to the careers of the other members of the group. Every time I code, make architectural or design decisions I am taking opportunities away from my staff. I have to trust that they will make the correct decision and will not be afraid to say they made a mistake and correct it. If experience shows me that I cannot trust their decisions then I need to remove them from the group. Sometimes it is like teaching your teenage child to drive. Very scary. But when you get good programmers who are not afraid to make decisions and implement them when and where they need to be made the results can be magical.
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