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Discussion on: Devs Shouldn't Report to PMs

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entomy profile image
Patrick Kelly

In medicine, we have strict separation for these kinds of things that works well in practice, and seems like it would address these issues as well.

Say I'm an LPN. I'm in a position where CNA's have to answer me with respect to nursing services, but RN's and up completely override any medical decision I could have. Business administrators have no relevance to medical decisions and can not (legally) have any input in those matters. Similarly, even as high up as an MD is, it's not a business administration position and they have no say in strictly office operations. People are kept to the domains they actually have experience in, but can advocate across those boundaries. Through that advocacy, peoples needs are (often) met.

I've also cooked professionally where these clean boundaries don't exist. You wind up with management who've never worked in a kitchen before, trying to tell me, as head cook, how things should be done. Unsurprisingly there's huge dysfunction.

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Adam Nathaniel Davis

This is great insight and you can't possibly know how timely it is for me. You see, another article, that's been floating near the top of my "mental queue", is about how dev is often compared to construction (e.g., the "building a house" analogy), but I feel strongly that dev is more accurately compared to medicine.

I'll get this written up in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned...