i don’t think you’re an idiot, nor a chump. just was wondering how you summoned the strength to persevere even though you didn’t like managing. maybe it’s a generational thing, my parents stayed at the same place for their whole career, but these days we’re expected to jump ship every few years if we want a raise that matches inflation.
Software/tech folks have it better than almost anyone else.
We usually get to love our job. We get paid quite well, and work on things that energize and motivate us.
The vast majority of the working population work at jobs that don’t really motivate them. Sometimes, they make a lot of money, but the work is a grind.
Many times, folks work at jobs for the social responsibility of doing stuff. They don’t like what they do, may not get paid that well, but feel like they are stepping up to the plate, and doing their civic duty.
This is a real rabbithole, and there’s a ton of opinions. Also, many managers are, shall we say, less than effective, so if we get a good manager, we should treasure them. A good manager can make difficult jobs bearable, and sometimes even highly motivating.
yeah i loved my first few years at big co which in hindsight was because of my manager. he hired me out of college and somehow brought the best out of me, resulting in many patents, publications, and a huge budget that rewarded our success. then the csuite turned over and my great manager was let go. now i’ve had 3 since and they’ve been progressively worse if measured by team output. so it goes
We did good work. It didn’t really have a high profile, but it was really engaging.
Basically, I couldn’t trust anyone else to do the job, and the Japanese had a lot of trust for me.
It is a bit sad, to hear the name-calling and insults, when I talk about it, but I’m not an idiot, and I’m not a chump.