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Why do most engineers want to be a manager?
20

Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

(OP)
I've been an individual contributor for my entire 15+ year career . I enjoy coding, simulation, and supporting other engineers who do the same. To me this is what engineering is all about. But I seem to be a minority. The vast majority of engineers spend only a few years doing actual engineering then quickly become team leaders and project managers.

I never thought of that career path since I do not enjoy talking in front of people and building relationships. If I was good at that, I would never have chosen engineering. I would have been a lawyer or a businessman !

I guess I wonder why these folks chose engineering if their end goal is to be a manager? If you look on linkedin, nearly every engineer is a manager type and highlights how they manage projects worth $x millions.. Why not just get an MBA and go into business or marketing? Why are individual contributors like me in such a minority? I suppose one can argue that my work all gets out-sourced to India! I've tried to stay ahead of the curve by developing expertise in new areas of simulation that are not "off-shorable" yet...

I know there are a lot of generalizations in my post. But hopefully you see the point and can comment !

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Do they go into engineering with the goal of becoming managers, or do they see that the management path appears to offer higher rewards and so go that route <edit> once already in engineering <edit>.

Since most people in management either wanted, or at least are ok with, the management path they possibly expect other engineers working for them to be the same and reward those who are while possibly neglecting or even implicitly punishing those that don't.

Personally, while I've done some project management etc. it's not where my heart lies so I've been trying to avoid it most of my career.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Been there. Done that. Got the T-Shirt.

But I have to admit that after spending something like five years in various supervisory/managerial roles, when I got the chance, I opted for a staff position to the VP of development as I felt that was where I could make the biggest contribution to the success of our organization. BTW, it worked out OK and I never looked back.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

$$

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

There is more money in management so instead of people going into management because they are good at managing people, you have a bunch of people who are tired that they have peaked salary-wise in their present position going into something they have no ability or interest. It too is used as a carrot inappropriately. A company has a technical employee that they don't want to see leave, so a promotion into management is used as a reward to keep them. Nevermind, there is nothing technical about managing.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I don't think that most engineers plan on becoming managers, but as Maui says, at a certain point in their careers, the only way in a lot of companies to make more money is to be a manager. However, I would dispute the "most;" as I look around our building, there's a finite number of managerial slots, whose occupants are readily looking to move up or elsewhere. That puts the majority of our engineering talent NOT in the management pool. I think that most companies would look that way, i.e., a pyramid with managers in the crowded apex, and the majority of engineers down below; although most companies have relatively flat structures, given the massive layoffs over the previous 40 years did away with "middle management" that stood between you and the department heads. At Boeing, the department head "managed" about 200 engineers.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

4
Then there's the people who came into engineering because they enjoy solving problems and discovered that the engineering manager gets a more bountiful and varied collection of problems to solve than anybody else in the enterprise.

A.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

A company had hired me out of school for a specific engineering role but stuck me in project management after just 2 years because I could do it when others couldn't. After 8 years of project management hell I jumped ship and went to a staff position in another company. It was like a demotion but I actually enjoy my job now.

Young engineers get pushed into management because their problem-solving minds make them very adaptable and their attention to detail out-paces career middle managers.

I used to count sand. Now I don't count at all.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

We're so short of people that pretty much any warm body with a hint of potential is getting projects to manage.

No one to do most of the work, but hey management have their beloved 'one neck to hold' for most projects.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I spent about 18 years of my career with a company that had a dual career path....management and engineering (technical). Each branch office of reasonable size had a manager and a chief engineer. Each had specific responsibilities and were supposedly equal in corporate stature.....wasn't necessarily so (surprise, surprise). We even had a technical position that was beyond the chief engineer position. It was a corporate level consultant/principal. I checked all the boxes....was even an office manager for a while. Hated it. Enjoyed the technical side and made it through all the technical positions available, even to a VP level....the branch managers always made more money, even in the same salary class! Oh well.

Maui is right!

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

My former and my current company have dual paths, and the current company does not appear to have any limits on the technical path, and both paths include bonuses. I've been a manager twice in my career and while I didn't hate it, it certainly was less fun than a purely technical job.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

They don't.

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Most companies DON'T have two paths for engineers- not really. Some don't even try to have two paths. Others have two paths all right, but the purely technical path is truly a dead end, while the management path at least continues upward for a while. They only way you can escape the dead end in most places is to become a manager of one, i.e. to go out on your own as a consultant.





RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I think SandCounter hit the nail on the head. Any young engineer that shows any bit of problem solving ability and initiative gets automatically pushed toward the management path because these skills can be adapted to most situations. The higher end management automatically thinks this is everyone's ultimate goal. The new $ blinds the young engineer and after a year or two of a soul-sucking management role, the young engineer morphs into the typical management type.
Terrible cycle. I am thankful everyday that I escaped back to a technical role before becoming a management zombie.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

My previous company did have the two paths well defined.
The technical specialist route is a bit of a one-way street with less and less side-streets as you move along.
The management route seems to open up more and more options as you move along. This is the general perception. It appears to be the safe choice. It's a choice without really choosing.

The reality of the management route is, if you're not a particularly good manager, you will quickly meet the Peter principle and end up in a situation where you are jack of all trades, master of none. Not particularly satisfying.

If you really like the technical domain you're working in, for pete's sake dig deeper and enjoy it. As you will gradually become indispensable or almost, your value for the company can rise fast.

It's great for a company to have an army of hungry under-30's that want to be a manager and think it takes working overtime and Saturdays to be promoted... only to work even more overtime and Sundays too.
At a certain age (this is a 45 yrs old writing) you realise all of a sudden you have a family and money enough but not enough time and it's impossible to turn back the clock. Last year I applied for my previous boss' position. An under-30 co-worker got the job instead of me and 6 months later I realise it's the best thing that happened to me in all of 2016.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Somebody has to manage the company. Do we want to hire someone that doesn't know diddly about engineering or do we want someone that knows engineering and in some cases can be a good manager?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Sadly, it seems many managers with a nominally technical background forgot anything about Engineering shortly after becoming managers.

How much this is related to people that aren't the cream of the crop technically being more likely to go the management route as a way to advance their careers (which are limited sticking technical) I'm not sure.

So from my own anecdotal experience, much of the time whether the person has a technical background can be at most a secondary factor.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

coleng,

I have seen very little to indicate a technical background is required to be a good manager. One of the best managers I had, had years of experience, only a high school degree, knew enough to size proposals up, and what everyone knew. If you have someone without a great technical background, I think that it in someways forces them to manage people and resources because they can't just go do it themselves. I don't think there are very many people that are inherently good at managing people and only picking from your technical group is a mistake.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

We weren't asked whether engineers make good managers, or bad ones- just why engineers "want" to be managers. Many of them don't- but many of them see the writing on the wall and are smart enough to read it. It's unfortunate that there isn't a meaningful parallel technical path for all engineers who might prefer it, but there just isn't.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

The best managers that I've every had were ex-salesman. Salesman, particularity when working in a highly technical field, tend to appreciate more the value that technically capable people bring to the table. They know that they need them to be successful and even if they move into a managerial role that if not part of a sales organization, at least I've found, that most of them bring with them this appreciation for the people who have the answers when he needs them.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

As someone starting their career, I've already had many senior people tell me that management is the only way to reliably breach the six figures ceiling so as to earn enough so that you can save for retirement and still no suffer from want.

<somewhat related tangent>
I just had this conversation with some of my colleagues. One senior engineer that went to management told me that once he became a manager he realized "I could be an excellent engineer, but I could only ever be an average manager" so he took a staff position at the company. That being said, since he is an excellent engineer, his experience naturally allows him to make prescient decisions so he likes trying to manage our manager who is not as technically proficient but is very good at reading and dealing with people. So in the end, he likes being some hybrid of technical and managerial worker.
<\somewhat related tangent>

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

2
"I've already had many senior people tell me that management is the only way to reliably breach the six figures ceiling so as to earn enough so that you can save for retirement and still no suffer from want. "

So, six figures can be achieved with going through management, but you may have to hunt around for companies that appreciate engineers at a corporate level. I've not spent more than 3 yrs of my 40 as a manager, and six figures was hit a long time ago. However, you can't be mediocre and expect excellent compensation.

Saving for retirement is more about doing it early, continually, with discipline, and with frugalness. You can run numbers on a number of retirement planning calculators online: https://www.edwardjones.com/preparing-for-your-fut... This one, with a 6% return, says that you only need to save $5000/yr to hit $1 M at age 65. You don't need a 6 figure salary to save that much per year. If you were making $60k/yr, you ought to be able to say $5k/yr without working too hard at it, and you should be able to save double that if you were serious about saving for retirement. There are those that can save triple or quadruple that, but they are probably uber-disciplined and statistical outliers. Being frugal means not eating out every meal, not buying a new car every 2 years, and not living large, in general. Bear in mind that one needs to have a few million saved up by retirement to cover contingencies. Unfortunately, the average person in the US getting on the cusp of retiring has less than $50k net worth, which means they'll be completely dependent on Social Security to live on during retirement.

If you treat living well in retirement as an engineering problem, how would you tackle that? As with any engineering problem, you determine the requirements, allocate them to subsystems, and synthesize the subsystems. I think that as engineers, we ought to be able to think our way through this problem, unlike people who aren't trained in analysis and synthesis.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

2
There is a lot of cynicism in this thread and I think I know where it comes from and have shared it at several points in my career. There is one factor that is mostly missing from the discussion--delegation of authority. For a while, as an individual contributor I had a DOA of a quarter million dollars and was incredibly happy with my job and my life, largely because I could identify, design, and implement a non-trivial sized project without asking permission. When the company did one of its quarterly reorganizations, a Supply Chain Management guy noticed my DOA and cut it back to $5k. Life got a lot less interesting when I had to ask permission to do most anything.

I had a couple of managers over the years who explained that the higher they moved in the management ladder, the the more they could do on their own authority and that motivated them. Not all managers are failed engineers, some of the engineers-moved-into-management just wanted to be able to implement larger-scale stuff without having to ask for permission.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei, Italian Physicist

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

If you cannot take stress, don't try to be a manager, especially a structural manager.

Stress is a man ager.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)


RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I've worked in three companies and each had a 'technical expert' development path and an engineering management path. Both skill sets are needed but the technical experts tended to be the types who would be polishing the oar locks on a life boat rather than rowing.

I chose the management path in order to make sure the smart engineers had work to do, had obstacles that prevented them from completing their work removed, and had policies and practices in place that provided some inertia to make the process less dependent on personality

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

One of the best managers I ever worked for, did not have any, engineering background, he sold dresses in a women's department store prior to working for the company. But he knew how to delegate and how to select the best person for the job.
Priceless.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Quote (Why do most engineers want to be a manager?)


Because they don't know any better.

On a more serious note, "management" is subjective in nature and depends on where you work. My employer has three career tracks: Technical, Operations, & Management. The operations track relates becoming a project manager, which is probably the worst assignment in the company (although some say it's department manager). How one gets into the management track is a mystery because the HR propaganda is vague.

As far as saving for retirement, I completely agree with IRStuff.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I call this "the trap", and it is as many others have said in this thread. An engineers earning potential peaks as an engineer in most places at 8-12 years, meaning you'll get your 1-3% per year in perpetuity until you quit, die, get fired or retire.

So for engineers to move past the (real or perceived) salary ceiling, they need to move into management-into "the trap"

Are engineers good managers of people or projects? A few; not all of them. Engineers are trained to technical minded, technical problem solvers, what-if thinkers. There is a mind set change moving from engineer into management, some love it-some hate it. Those that love it often didn't find much thrill in the technical aspect anyway; they started out more interested in the soft side of engineering.

So, to stay out of "the trap" you either A. Find a Company that TRULY has an equivalent technical track B. Start your own company so you can make well into 6 figures and still be an engineer-why work so hard marketing and getting work for someone else?? or C. Be happy being an individual contributor and making your 1-3% more per year each year.

Cynical? No, it's just the crappy truth.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

"So for engineers to move past the (real or perceived) salary ceiling, they need to move into management-into "the trap""

That's assuming:
> they want to be managers
> they're any good at it
> upper management actually thinks that you and not someone else is the appropriate candidate.
> there's an actual opening

My group isn't big enough to have more than one or two slots open every few years, and even then, there needs upper management consensus to choose the ones that get the open slots.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

At some places on this world, becoming a manager means a good pay. If you stay as what you are now, you will never get better pay and other good benefits.
But, don't get me wrong, even being a mere engineer also in some industries, someone is getting really good pay and benefits.
It's up you and where you are working. If everything goes fine and you really enjoy with what you are doing and money is not your concern, why should you become a manager or higher level person.
It's just my thought.

R.Efendy

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I can only speak for my discipline here:

I think that a lot of engineers are faced with prospect of tackling essentially the same problems over an over again with minor tweaks and adjustments to fit the situation or latest incremental evolution of the state-of-the-practice. What do you do if you get too bored? Change jobs and take a pay cut? Move into management and get a pay increase?

In light of this, management provides benefits that may be (are to me) very attractive. First, you get to learn an entirely different set of problem (people) solving skills while leveraging your existing human capital. Learning and becoming proficient with people skills can make life more satisfying outside of the work place too. It seems that to a lot of engineers, engineering and problem solving is the end-all-be-all of life existence. In reality, engineering is a means to an end for most people.

Also, it is very nice to be able to make decisions without being required too check in with your daddy (boss) if it is okay. Mid level managers get a mixture of authority combined with some policies for checking in with daddy. Its actually kind of nice to have some authority while also knowing you have higher level support when needed.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

"However, based on Dilbert's premise, this will happen automatically, by random chance if nothing else"

Not necessarily. Unless every boss is the dumbest person in the world, there's bound to be people who are either dumber or no smarter than they, so the probability of hiring really smart people is much less than 50%. That's not the kind statistic that makes a Google or Facebook.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Moreover, that seems to be a bit a pompous thing for Dilbert to say. If he truly thinks he's that smart, then he ought to go work somewhere else, where the people are at least smart enough to recognize his worth.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Apparently there are some out there who do not quite appreciate why Dilbert is such a popular cartoon strip winky smile

While a bit 'off-topic' but since we've brought-up Dilbert, this is my all-time favorite (note that I spent considerable time working with customers to identify user requirements that I would then pass on to our software R&D group):

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

2

Quote (ParabolicTet)

Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

There is an old joke that exists in many different variations, so don’t judge harshly.
It goes like this:

“Is that true, that you won $1000000 in the lottery?”
“Not me, but my neighbor, not won, but lost, not $1000000 but $100, and not in the lottery, but in the game of cards. But it’s true.”

So, let us take a closer look on the OP’s question.

On the matter of “most”: In any occupation, there is a group of people dissatisfied with their choice of career for different reasons: low pay, lack of recognition, missing sense of accomplishment, occupation is not prestigious enough, etc.
From my observation, people choosing engineering out of their love for everything mechanical/ electrical/ chemical (insert your favorite science) usually used good judgement before making a choice and later show higher loyalty to chosen profession.

On the matter of “engineers”: There are engineers and there are engineers. There is a duality in how term is perceived. Engineering is seen as both position of “expertship” (as in technical), and position of “leadership” (as in organizational).
For engineers who have chosen position of leadership especially based on technical knowledge, it’s only natural to advance into some kind of management position without sacrificing their integrity.
There were already several posts in this thread about companies allowing for “dual tracks”.

On the matter of “want”: It was also pointed out here, that people sometimes are “forced” rather than “want”: financial troubles, scarce job market, lack of opportunities putting person into position with not so many choices.
And engineers being able to apply their systemic thinking and problem-solving abilities sometimes becoming good managers even against their will.

On the matter of “managers”: we already touched matter of “dual tracks”, companies having administrative managers (saying what to do) and technical managers (saying how to do it), so there are managers and managers.

So, not exactly most, not exactly engineers, not exactly want, and not exactly managers. Other than that, OP asked legitimate question.

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Quote (JohnRBaker)

Apparently there are some out there who do not quite appreciate why Dilbert is such a popular cartoon strip

Apparently there are... wink

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Dilbert is one of my favorite strips, only second to Calvin and Hobbes.
Seems like SOMEONE has been following the political news: http://assets.amuniversal.com/07b853c0c94f013441df...

However, there are always multiple facets to any organizational dynamic, and while the pointy-haired manager gets the brunt, along with his higher-ups, one has to wonder about Dilbert, Wally, Alice, and Dogbert, and why they are who they and where they are.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

The dark side have cookies?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

All the cookies.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

MacGyver52000,

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

It could be that most engineers are humans, they want to be important or at least look more important than others.

I am OK with doing basically the same thing I did 30 years ago, only now I do it much better and I am more cynical about it.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I was just thinking about the Dilbert strip above that talks about the 400 features and how humans can't use a product with that level of complexity.

Humans do; just consider Excel. How many people use all the features of Excel? Most don't, but they do use the parts of Excel they want to. Seems to me that it's a bit of compartmentalization; you reject the overall complexity of Excel and substitute your own.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers Entire Forum list http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

IR, I wish that I could more fully utilize Excel's capabilities. It can do so much more than I am currently able to command of it.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I think I've forgotten how to do more stuff in Excel than I actually know how to do stuff in many SW packages. Never really got back up to speed after the change to the 'fluent' interface - I muddle through but not as well.

Relevant to this thread but related to another I started recently, in conversations with management in the last few days I had very similar to the Dilbert Moment IRstuff linked (http://assets.amuniversal.com/07b853c0c94f013441df...).

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

At a recent review, I was asked what my ideal position in the company would be. I answered PLC programmer. Later I realized that it was a hook to try and get me into company management. Glad I missed that one.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

In my experience, most engineers don't want to be managers, at least not in the corporate sense. Most want to be engineers.

I'm a consulting civil engineer working mostly on municipal infrastructure improvements for small cities, so the projects are generally not that big (fees usually in the $25k to $200k range). In my field, about as far as most engineers want to get is project management so they can be in charge of their own work.

==========
"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Yes, lets not confuse project management with corporate management. I've done both, but when I was running a project I never really considered this as being a 'manager', not in the sense of when I was actually the 'boss' of a department, with hiring and firing responsibilities and supervisors reporting to me.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I was forced to act as a manager for about a year.

In addition to the usual duties, it became apparent that I was expected to act as a bidirectional filter.

The passband of said filter was expected to be different in each direction.

In neither direction did the allowable passed content resemble truth.

I hated it.

Then they got an MBA to be my boss.

I hated that more.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

For the admiration and respect


lol

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Being an owner would be a thousand times better than being some filter between upper management and employees. I could see it being interesting and rewarding training a hard hitting crew from the ground up. Managing someplace that would require you to be unethical or implement bad policies would be terrible even if doing it meant you had a chance to track high up in the organization.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

Having been an owner , I can assure you the Peter principal is alive and well, you very rapidly rise to the level of your own incompetence , You then have to get employees who can bail you out of that , or you fail.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

I think people can just get burned out on design (every day) and want a change of pace. That happened to me once. It was partly because the designers/drafters I was working with were so terrible.....I just had to get away from it.

RE: Why do most engineers want to be a manager?

The winning move is to become a manager and then spend all your time on your engineering hobby horses with noone in a position to tell you to bugger off :)

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