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Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’»
Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’»

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Why Do Leaders Treat Programmers Like Children?

Does it sometimes feel like the decisions made by leaders are almost trying to get programmers to hate their software development projects?

I used to take for granted things I knew about development - and assume that leadership at my company understood them.

Because software development is so expensive, and traditional leadership doesn't always teach enough about the unique challenges of IT - there can be decisions made that lose trust and build resentment from programmers.

But it's not really the fault of leaders unless they know better and choose to go against best practices.

Complaining never helped the situation for me.

In this video I share 9 truths of software development that if understood by leadership, will help them get along with programmers better at their company.

If your CEO, Product Manager, or Project Manager doesn't know these things, disastrous results can occur on your software project.

Why would leaders purposefully build a culture that causes people to get angry and eventually leave?

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Top comments (8)

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

Small quibble: You used the wrong word throughout this article. What you meant to use was "bosses" not "leaders". Real leaders don't make the kinds of grating mistakes that you cite, but bosses definitely do. True leadership understands or t least make every attempt to understand. Bosses don't.

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jaymeedwards profile image
Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’»

I would have to agree. I actually was going to use β€œmanagers” but β€œleaders” kept me at 50 characters for the title so YouTube doesn’t chop it off on some devices.

Depending on the leader, it might still help for them to make sure they understand these issues, but your point is well stated.

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

If character-limit's a problem, you could always use PHB?

Woulda inserted a :smirk: there but this MD implementation doesn't have the full emoji-palette?

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jaymeedwards profile image
Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’» • Edited

LOL! Nice. Really trying not to bash management with this one but to help. With how hard it is to get folks attention sometimes I have to use curiosity headlines like this. I try to make sure it’s not too β€œclickbaity”.

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

Heh... Understandable. I, too, apply different levels of "filtering" depending on audience.

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hawicaesar profile image
HawiCaesar • Edited

I knew it. well rested means SLEEP hehe.

I really wonder why some people, some developer included consider having less sleep as having achieved some badge of honor or life time achievement award.

Or is this a case of "I work better on less sleep" ?

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jaymeedwards profile image
Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’» • Edited

I can only speak for myself, but when I’ve had sleep problems it’s usually been from working too much and having anxiety due to problems with the project, or I can’t seem to switch my mind off.

Having access to a computer we can bring to bed (cell phone) doesn’t help with this either! I really try to leave it in the other room.

David Heinemeier Hansson did a great article on this topic a while back that I really enjoyed:

Sleep Deprivation Is Not A Badge Of Honor

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jaymeedwards profile image
Jayme Edwards πŸƒπŸ’»

Hey that’s great, companies can really use PMs who are ex developers and understand the value of communication!