Cool Beans

Paul Glen, author of Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology delivered a very poignant and engaging keynote speech today at MIST's IT Security World 2008 Conference in San Francisco. For those of us who are blessed with the role of managing people who think they are (and actually are) much more knowledgeable than us, Paul lends insight into the differences between workers and geek-workers.

Some notable points from his speech:

• Power is useless. You are managing thinkers not influencing behavior, so traditional power is lost.
  
• Is there room for marketing and innovation in your environment? This is one of your responsibilities.
• Your subordinates are almost certainly more loyal to technology than to you.
• Knowledge inversion (subordinates knowing more than their managers) is normal. Many times managers think it should be the other way around (and then pretend).
• Geeks will deliberately not disregard [your] organizational hierarchy.
  
• Is your environment one where people are afraid to raise their hand? Must encourage a safe environment for ideas.
• All projects are but the reduction of ambiguity.

I had opportunity to speak with Paul Glen after his speech and commented on the resonance of knowledge-inversion. In most companies I've worked, it was part of the cultural norm for engineers to talk smack about their bosses' cluelessness to tech implementation. Paul mentioned that especially for managers leaving technical backgrounds, it's important to note that what got you to being boss will kill you as boss unless you can let it go. Experienced managers will understand their role in an organization, and not seek to know more than those whom they are directing and mentoring.

Good keynote. I'm going to check out his book.