Competency

My lead developer on a project couldn't attend a meeting on Friday. My lead (a project manager) couldn't attend in her stead. I said I'd be there. At which point one of the PMs on the project sent a message to me and the project team that said, and I barely paraphrase, "Are you sure you understand all the details involved in the project and can speak to our concerns?" I responded with a four point treatise that basically said, "I wouldn't have done it the way you did it in the first place, so I don't understand what you're doing or why you're doing it, but I understand the project." My lead/PM was highly amused and sent me a one word email that said, "Solid!"

The follow up meeting involved two of the PMs on the project (from the same team) voicing differences in direction in the meeting, arguing with automated testing about whether they'd take the testing tool development we'd been trying to give them all along, talking over the automated testing rep when he was trying to explain that he'd take it (instead of just saying f*ing thank you), questioning how the automated testing team wanted to implement the tool (at which point I spoke up and said, he/she who owns the tool owns the implementation. If it doesn't do what you want, then you go back to the table, but they'll understand it enough to remedy the problem at that point. Until then, tell them what you want in concrete terms and leave the details to the people with the developers), and sounding very confused when they discovered I can pull document ids at will with only 60 minutes of programming (no one ever thinks a manager knows how to use a product api). Possibly the most aggravating meeting I've been in since I started managing, and I've been in a LOT of meetings.

I miss just coding to make myself happy.