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Comment Not specific to Software Devs... (Score 3, Insightful) 146

Learning how to manage software developers is exactly the same as learning to be a good manager in general. I manage software developers. I'm not perfect, I wouldn't even rate myself very high, but many of my employees have told me fairly often they appreciate what I do for them. They things they seem to appreciate are: being as transparent as possible, being interested in their personal interests and development, going to bat for them when they need something (new PC, training, etc), giving them honest and quick feedback both good and bad, and not being willing to place blame but instead just looking for solutions. None of those behaviors are specific to managing software developers, but instead are some things good managers do in general.

I was a software developer before this so while I'm not up to date on the tech they are currently using, I understand the types of struggles they face. That helps, although I'm fairly sure if I went tomorrow to manage a team of mechanical engineers that I could become effective fairly quickly in that role, too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm don't think I'm a great manager, but I have had one or two great managers and I'm trying to borrow the things I thought they did well and my employees seem to respond to that.

Comment Re:Creationism (Score 1) 445

If scientists want to be taken seriously, they need to stop arguing the existence of a deity when 85% of the world's population believes in one.

Most scientists don't bother arguing about the existence of a deity anyway. They dodge the question and leave it alone. The people who argue against the existence of any deity are called "Atheists" and generally while some scientists are atheists, certainly not all atheists are scientists. Scientists don't worry what stupid people think but the rest of us worry for them because we know those stupid people are allowed to vote, own guns, and do any number of other stupid things that are likely to affect us.

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