Jeff Moden (11/22/2014)
To be honest, I find this article to be one of the most condescending-towards-DBAs, Developers, etc, articles that I've ever read.
I am sorry you feel this way. I am also not quite sure I understand. I am a DBA, Developer, and if I am being condescending to anyone, it would be managers. By and large, I feel like DBAs and Developers (particularly any of the data variety since that is the target audience!) are generally pretty amazing. I also believe that by and large, anyone who would spend time reading articles about how to be a better DBA is probably likely to be very good at what they do, or wants to be good at what they do.
Basically I am saying that sometimes you just have to realize that the manager is stressed out, and you have to play nice and understand what they may be going through, no matter if they are generally great or well the opposite of great.
I used first person a lot because I was noting my own personal tendencies towards quality at all costs, and I know that attitude occasionally rubs managers the wrong way. Sometimes it gets me a talking to 🙂
Jeff Moden (11/22/2014)
They're screaming because the deadline is looming and their butt is on the line and that's all.
Of course that's true. And they are filled with stress and are trying to get you to do what they need you to do, even if it isn't what you want to do. Often it is because the deadlines and/or the requirements have changed due to outside forces. And the word "screaming" is a bit of an exaggeration for effect. Usually it is sans any actual voice raising...
Jeff Moden (11/22/2014)
It's usually the sign of a grossly incompetent manager that never had a proper plan and certainly never had any proper control over the project or communication with the people on the project.
Note the use of the word usually. It means not all of the time. Sometimes it is because of outside forces. A few times in my life it was because I pushed back really hard on quality.. Maybe more than a few times.
The whole point of this is in the title. Being empathetic to the plight of the manager by knowing what they are going through. You go through much the same things at times, and you are both (generally) on the same team. Does it hurt to put yourself in their shoes?
However, this doesn't mean that all managers are great and are just a little bit stressed when they are mean. Some of them are just mean, incompetent, out of control, and have no right to be in control of other human beings. I have had a few of these... I have had more solid managers with good (if unexercised) technical skills who just have a deadline looming and occasionally have to make tough decisions to make quality decisions based on the "time, quality, cost" decision ... We can't take more time, we have no more money, so quality is what suffers.