Comments on: So you wanna be a Management Star – Introducing Scott Berkun

By: TechItEasy Digest : Innovation « Tech IT Easy

TechItEasy Digest : Innovation « Tech IT Easy — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:36:51 +0000

[...] Berkun (again and again !) has been the constant inspiration of this digest. He will lead us through this bulletin with [...]

By: Fast food for thoughts : innovation « Heavy Mental

Fast food for thoughts : innovation « Heavy Mental — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:39:15 +0000

[...] Berkun (again and again !) has been the constant inspiration of this digest. He will lead us through this bulletin with [...]

By: ceciiil

ceciiil — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 09:29:38 +0000

Hey Vincent, many thanks for the link on the kawasaki blog. brilliant interview !

By: ceciiil

ceciiil — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:26:05 +0000

Jeremy you should have worked for my former company to know what I mean !

“Star” in a company is more like a guru, a well respected person because s/he has a very important knowledge, from the company perspective, on a specific topic, often coming up with great ideas.

The problem with these people is that they are rather selfish, sulky, ego-inflated, blasé, pretty tough to newcomers or whoever ignorant of their domain, arrogant etc … Bottom line is they are rather difficult to deal with.

They always try to establish a relationship whereby they make you feel like they’re doing a favour accepting a task you give them. Just a effing pain in the neck.

Something that I noticed with these “stars” is that they usually are star in a given context (their current company) but are quite uncomfortable whenever they have to change context.

One of the many great advices in the getting real book from 37Signals is that you’re better off hiring someone average but enthusiastic than someone super good and blasé.

By: Vincent van Wylick

Vincent van Wylick — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:18:18 +0000

Jeremy, I think that this article on Guy Kawasaki’s blog, about “Ego-nomics” will provide at least part of the answer to your question.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/09/are-you-an-egom.html

But yeah, on some level I think it’s easy — you can choose to avoid all people with press-coverage — at the same time, the press-coverage is often justified. I imagine a lot of the tell-tales will come from the initial interview—the more “me’s” and “I’s,” the less space there is for “you.” And there is the CV of course, which gives hints as well. Basically, pretty similar to applying for a job, which is what it is.

I’m quite fond of trial-periods, for both parties, where you can evaluate each other while you work.

By: Fred Brunel

Fred Brunel — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 03:12:26 +0000

Thanks Cecil for pointing out these articles. That’s very interesting reading.

Management is harder than we imagine especially because you’ll have to deal with the human nature while keeping a team together.

Most people are really not prepared.

By: Jeremy Fain

Jeremy Fain — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:22:31 +0000

Ceciil: how do you define an All-Star? I get the picture when considering athletes (press coverage, hype, majorettes, cheer leaders, commercials, fan clubs, etc.), but I’m having a hard time understanding the reason Scott Berkun writes this: “All-star teams lose. While it’s an honor to be chosen to an all-star team, it’s miserable to play on one.” So, again, my question is: how do you detect you’re being hunt by / working with All-Stars or underdogs? Many thanks.

By: ceciiil

ceciiil — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:52:05 +0000

Thnaks for your feedback Vincent. Well I’ve just noticed that both posts I’ve written here talk about books/essays on project management …

This just proves how important I rate this responsibility. I’ve seen so many good teams whose effort was spoiled by dreadful management decision and/or self-centered managers !

I wish they could have read these books.

By: Vincent van Wylick

Vincent van Wylick — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:38:14 +0000

Hey Cecil, Thanks for writing this great article! I’m moving into the direction of management too and am realising every day what a responsibility it is. That said, those coming from an IT-background only have an advantage when managing IT-people. It is a world of its own, with it’s 1’s and 0’s, and takes a certain type of structured mind to understand all the challenges and opportunities which lie in.

But you also have to let go, and make decisions that are sometimes only good for business, and not so for the technology / innovation. That’s part of management too.

In any case, really well-written piece Cecil, it really made me think.