Project managers are not evil.

I’m a project manager. Don’t hold it against me. Until I joined the rails community I had no idea the disdain programmers had for project managers. Most of this was coming from jaded java programmers who were over managed with an iron fist. Rails gave them the ability to reduce project complexity and thus remove the need for excessive management.

What do I think makes a good project manager? A project manager should reduce communication overhead, keep everyone on schedule, provide resources and tools to make programmers work smarter, make the hard decisions and settle arguments, and be a cheerleader for the project. My philosophy is that my programmers work with me, not for me, its a collaberative effort. I don’t just hire them because they know how to program, I want their creative ideas too. I’ve found this makes them more productive if they are implementing their own ideas and not just following orders. They are people, not tools to be used.

As the title of my blog clearly states, I have no idea how to code. I think this makes me a better project manager. I can step outside the scope of the problem at hand and provide a clear picture of whats going on. Sometimes a programmer just needs someone to tell their ideas or problems to. There have been many times where I sat and listened to a programmer describe a problem and without me saying anything they come to a solution.

Its those “light bulb” moments that I live for and make my work worth doing.