The Military Figured This Out Long Ago

The military has known for a long time that there is a difference between fixing airplanes and leading a group of people who fix airplanes. For the most part, the software industry has yet to figure out that there is a difference between developing software and leading a group of people who develop software.

It is obviously very important that leaders understand the nature of the work performed by the organization.  The closer the leader is to individual contributors on the organization chart, the more important the knowledge of the work becomes.

However, it is rarely the case that the leader of a military organization can outperform the rest of the organization in basic tasks.  For example, a company commander is not likely to be the best marksman in the company.  The company commander should be the best at commanding a company, which should not require significant marksmanship skills when things are working properly.

I understand that most software developers have had experiences with terrible managers, and this has lead them to believe that management is a bad thing.  Some companies such as Valve and Treehouse have eliminated managers completely.  As long as we continue to promote our best software developers into lead and management positions, for which they are often unqualified and uninterested, we will continue the cycle of poor software management.