Comments on Maison Fleury: Software for the non-software girl

Hi Bill, I never managed anybody at JBoss, so stri...

2009-09-04T06:44:29.134-07:00

Hi Bill, I never managed anybody at JBoss, so strictly-speaking, I couldn't say. I do hope we were on the side of the scale with less management, and more independently-empowered employees, at least we were in the beginning. We had to be, coming out of the do-it-yourself OSS culture, otherwise we could never have grown, as an early stage start-up.

Nathalie, where would JBoss be on this scale? ;-)...

2009-08-29T15:48:24.471-07:00

Nathalie, where would JBoss be on this scale? ;-)

(Please don't ask me about Red Hat...)

Hi Bill, I've only actually worked one corporate j...

2009-08-28T04:16:48.723-07:00

Hi Bill, I've only actually worked one corporate job and that was in the US, prior to JBoss. I did read some research on this topic, referenced in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers (the chapter on commercial airline crashes). I think there is something called the power differential or authority differential index (readers feel free to help me here) index which measures things like how formal the relationship is between management and employees, ease of communication b/w these two groups (like how easily can a subordinate call out a senior person on an error). It might have been a footnote, but it said that Germany was noteworthy for being low on this chain of authority index, with highly empowered employees and a very thin level of management. They mentioned that, in France (which was high on this index), the same level of work would require many more supervising managers.

The more interesting thing for me is how administr...

2009-08-27T20:09:31.280-07:00

The more interesting thing for me is how administrators are viewed in other cultures. I worked with a German software developer on a large project at a past employer. We were shooting the shit over a beer one evening when he went on a little diatribe about how screwed up the corporate structure is in the US. Specifically we talked about project managers and the power they're given here. He said in Germany a PM is nothing more than a secretary on a project. How is it in France/Spain/any other culture you've lived in?

Management vs Specialization. Management is a mi...

2009-08-23T13:26:54.232-07:00

Management vs Specialization.

Management is a mis-nomer. There is no such thing as "managing". You sign vacation schedules and such but that is it. Then you have administration, which is a clear function and the heart of most corporate americe. You have finance, which makes investors happy and you have creative types in the specialized roles. CEO's come from all 3 walks of life but I have a soft spot for the creative types.

The idea that "leadership" comes from administrators is unfortunately a common myth in corporate america.