Mr. Dueck, why does it appear that managers and techies do not speak the same language?
There is a big cultural difference between managers and computer scientists: Managers follow methods and approaches; they brainstorm a lot and in general they have a very methodical approach. They start with creating a presentation and a business case, apply for loans and meet procedural requirements. Computer scientists, however, are not into all that planning and preparing. In short, computer scientists focus on content, while managers concentrate on the packaging.
Your Keynote will be about the "Welfare of People". What does their "welfare" look like?
To me, "keeping people's welfare" means that a boss will not force their own management style onto others. This requires that they look at each employee individually and think about how they treat them and what tasks they can entrust them with in order for them to like their work. For example, if you have someone on the team who is only interested in when they can go home and how many tasks they have to complete by then, then you cannot designate them to develop a vision for the next decade. That will not work.
To make it pictorially clear, I like to compare managers to dogs: They feel comfortable as a pack in meetings, they like planning and creating PowerPoint presentations. In contrast, computer scientists resemble lonely hunting cats: They are highly concentrated and tinker for hours, until they suddenly have an idea. Oracle or IBM are cats reservations. But when cats are managed by dogs, misunderstandings are inevitable. Basically you have to teach people to have a bit more love for animals.
As what would you consider yourself, are you more of a dog or cat?
I'm definitely a cat!
