Demoting a Programmer to a Manager

This is a form of deferred compensation. Old-style companies had armies of vice presidents who didn't do much, but in fact were being rewarded for work they'd already done, with a smooth transition to retirement. This is how those old-style companies encouraged loyalty. Now that that's gone, it's every employee for himself, hence the rise of contractors.

The value of a company isn't in the stuff it owns, or it's brand, or even in its source depot. It's that it's a collective of people who can identify and solve new and difficult problems. Loyalty matters more than ever... Managers who've never been actual practitioners don't understand this.

True story. I was a manager at Sun for 7+ years. I was on the original J2EE team and by any criteria you like, I was pretty successful as a manager (I have no problem lining up an initial interview based on my resume).

In 2006, I decided to leave Sun. Layoffs every 3 months was no fun and it was pretty stressful working so hard to protect my team (I am very proud to say that no one who worked for me got layed off).

I hadn't programmed since 1999 and the coding world had changed dramatically. I discovered that my management record was too good for someone who couldn't answer the basic programming questions. I couldn't get the Director position at Google, Amazon, or pretty much anywhere. For that matter, I couldn't get the engineering position or the Senior Management position either. The interview usually ended very quickly.

Today, I am very happy as a PHP engineer at a start up. Best decision I've ever made. I might go back into management if the start up gets big enough.

My lesson from this experience is that to have credibility as an engineering manager in this internet world, you need to keep your edge. Otherwise, you better be good at networking.

They are different skillsets, but they aren't mutually exclusive. I work in a company which has dual career paths - technical and people management. At the bottom of the career ladder, you have OK programmers with OK people skills. This is the minimum you need to work effectively within a large team. Over time you improve both areas, but specialise in one. We end up with managers with technical backgrounds (which helps a lot in that they understand us and we respect them), and architects who know how to manage a team.

I see what you're saying, but at the same time, you're going to get a new appreciation for all of the "useless" managers, slimy salesweasels, and busybodies around the office. In a healthy organization, they keep the real world at bay so you can program.

At your startup, you're going to be doing your own marketing, answering your own phone, ordering your own supplies from Staples... I bet you'll spend less time programming, not more.