Tipos de Managers

Uno de los capítulos más interesantes del libro "Managing Humans - Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager" de Michael Lopp es el titulado "Inwards, Outwards and Holistics" donde esos tres tipos de managers. Cada uno de esos tipos tiene distintos trabajos, motivaciones y objetivos. Les dejo la descripción del libro de cada uno de ellos, y al final mi punto de vista personal, disfrútenla:

Inwards: These types of managers are responsible for a small team of folks working on a single product or technology. An inward manager’s vision is focused on their team and their product. While they’re aware there are other things going on in the organization, they don’t tend to be involved cross-functionally unless their team has dependency on an external team. Inwards are often junior managers, but that isn’t always the case. Some very experienced managers have settled into a comfortable groove as inwards because they want to stay near the team and near the code.

Holistics: Traditionally, holistics make up the middle layer of management. Whereas the inward’s vision is pointed down at the individual team, the holistic is staring across the organization. They are likely managers of managers; responsible for multiple products and multiple teams. The holistic’s main job is to figure out what the hell is going on everywhere in the organization. They’re doing this because, as we’ll see in a moment, they’re actually running your company. This is why they’re never in their office; they’re running around gathering information. This constant information acquisition gives the impression that they are spread thin and, well, they are. There’s a ton of information moving around your averagesized company, and staying tapped into that flood is a full-time job. Wait, don’t these holistics have product to ship? No, they have multiple products, but they’ve hired rock star inwards to get the products built to specification and on time so they can focus on figuring out what to build nextaand who they’re going to need to build it.

Outwards: These are the senior managers. VPs, CEOs. The biggest misconception regarding outwards is what they care about. You’d think their number one priority would be the care and feeding of the company. Wrong. The well-being of the company is the responsibility of the holistics. The holistics are the ones who are spending all the time sniffing around the hallways, gathering internal competitive intelligence, and building empires out of talented inwards. The outward’s vision is focused on the outside world. They care about the public perception of the company, the company’s relationship with its customers, the financial community, the world. That’s why they’re never at headquarters, they’re off telling other people what a great job all those holistics and inwards are doing. I’m not suggesting that outwards don’t care about the daily professional shenanigans within the company; they do, but they’ve also hired a group of rock star holistics to run their company. The rub is this: while it’s not their job to run the company on a daily basis, they are accountable for it. Tough gig.

Personalmente, a mi me encanta centrarme en el proyecto que estoy dirigiendo. Mi responsabilidad en este momento de mi carrera es de un manager Inward, pero me encanta recorrer los pasillos, enterarme de todo y charlar con mucha gente. Leer esta parte del libro me hizo dar cuenta que no esta mal lo que hago, que estoy encaminándome a cierto puesto mas holístico, lo cual me encantaría en cierto momento. Me asustaría ser un outwards, por el foco de su trabajo, creo que no es lo mío.

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