In response to Wednesday’s post, Sean writes:

How does someone make this leap from technician to manager? I see it all the time in IT, and I think it’s why there are so many bad managers out there. Isn’t this the Peter Principle, where people are promoted to their level of incompetence?

It’s more than a leap. It is a completely different skill set. The technician is an expert in a technical skill. The technician does the work.

One stratum above is the supervisor. The supervisor does NOT do the work. The supervisor makes sure the work is done; completely, accurately, no missing segments and on time. The tools of the supervisor are checklists and schedules. This is not a subtle concept and most companies don’t get it.

The role of the supervisor is coordination. It is not that people are promoted to their level of incompetence. Brilliant technicians are promoted to a role where they are expected to use a skill set they have not developed and the company is not prepared to train. There are so many bad managers out there because companies do not know how to train managers. -TF