[alexashka]

In no-developer-experience-manager's worldview, this is actually a good idea.

If development was so easy that a manager who doesn't understand programming can break developer tasks down into small chunks - we'd live in a completely different universe!

In reality, management breaking anything down into smaller tasks, instead of people who will actually do the work, breaking things down, is going to lead to ZERO architecture and a shit codebase, 100% of the time.

That's if you're lucky and the project is a clean slate.

Existing codebases are full of code smells that'd take days to comprehend, days to chase down and comprehend what the actual requirements were/are because those are never properly documented, and then re-write that 'micro-task' so that the next developer doesn't have to spend their days in hell.

Oh, this'd need to now be tested, there'd be new bugs, and those would need to be fixed also.

So instead, in the real world - your micro-task gets handed down, the developer doesn't bother understanding what the existing codebase is doing, they just patch it until it works, contributing to the unmaintainable piece of garbage that all developers with any self respect left in the world hate.

Since only the brave/crazy ones will say 'this micro task will take 2 weeks instead of 2 days because the existing code is garbage', those brave ones will get replaced by those who will say 'yes, 2 days'. Your project will need more and more time per task, and more and more developers doing maintenance, but the managers will continue reporting successful micro-tasks completed on time!

I've just described corporate programming and how you're directly contributing to the hell that it is.

[dragonwriter]

> In no-developer-experience-manager's worldview, this is actually a good idea.

More precisely, a no-development-management-knowledge manager’s worldview.

While obviously development experience can be a source of development management knowledge, there's no reason it should be the only source, and development managers ought to be screened for job skills as much as developers are.

[alexashka]

I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be the only source - even at McDonalds, managers graduate from being regular burger flippers.

That's why McDonalds works, and software development is a perpetual disaster - McDonalds understand that to manage even something as simple as flipping burgers, you need to have done it yourself first!

It's the arrogance of business school management that's responsible for a great deal of turmoil across many areas of everyday life. Just imagine going to school for something that's not difficult, to 'learn' how to boss people around. For good pay!

Isn't that the dream of every non-creative, lazy, half-wit you never want managing anybody ever? Yes... yes it is...

This is a recent phenomena on a mass scale and it isn't going to last - getting high rank without having earned it has always been a complete disaster, just look at any point in history.

[padobson]

In reality, management breaking anything down into smaller tasks, instead of people who will actually do the work, breaking things down, is going to lead to ZERO architecture and a shit codebase, 100% of the time.

This is just another way of saying management is incompetent. There's no project management strategy that is going to overcome incompetent project managers.