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6<br />
Managing Engineers<br />
On Development, Consensus,<br />
Doctor Death, and Magic<br />
I thought Dan was crazy when he asked me to run the engineering<br />
department. It was 250 people, and my only previous management<br />
experience was when a couple <strong>of</strong> engineers reported<br />
to me for three months, after which we mutually agreed that<br />
it would be best for all involved to end the experiment. If I<br />
couldn’t manage 2, what made Dan think I could manage 250?<br />
His argument was this: “Managing a big group is nothing like<br />
managing a handful <strong>of</strong> people. As a low-level manager, you work<br />
closely with the group and what they are doing. When you’re<br />
managing 250 people, you have 5 people reporting directly to<br />
you, and they each have 50 people under them. You can’t just<br />
tell the 5 what to do because they have to turn around and give<br />
direction to their 50. Instead, you describe your vision. You help<br />
them understand where you want to go, and share any thoughts<br />
you have on how to get there. Then trust them.” He said that<br />
figuring out the big picture and communicating it to people was<br />
what I did anyway, so how hard could it be?<br />
101
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