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Are managers valuable?

Are managers valuable? Or useless? Or harmful?!


I can admit that during my 17 years career in sw development, I have developed sometimes a bit cynical view on managers. And therefore a sound interest on ideas around not having any, like teal and holocracy (although I am not a big fan of those either 😀).


Cynicism comes from managers who think it is their job to make decisions for other people. Decisions like what information to share and for whom, who to hire where, and how to do things. So decisions which mostly affect other peoples work. And these type of managers are not just useless, I think they are extremely harmful. I'd rather take a manager that does nothing than this type of a manager.


But I've also had privilege to work with managers who advice, share, participate, challenge and empower. Managers who get the best out of teams and individuals. Managers that give me hope.


My question to all managers is: what type do you want to be?

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