Since the Linkworth checks are still rolling in strong even though I haven’t posted in like a three months, I figured I’ll post … I’m starting to feel bad.

So, what have I been up to? Working non-stop. Exciting new projects requiring lots of learning, tinkering with data, building prototypes and models, and, unfortunately, dealing with people’s shit.

What they don’t tell you when they give you your own team is the fact that managing people is probably the most difficult thing you’ll ever have to do.

Seriously, when you’re a regular team member, you don’t realize that “long hours”, “difficult tasks”, “rigid deadlines” got NOTHING on trying to knock out a moderately-complicated project through other people. You’ll realize very quickly that working as an individual or a member of an established team is really a cakewalk because you don’t have to coordinate anything but your own efforts, your own time, and your own vision of the big picture.

Toss in a few people with their problems, a peer with whom you butt heads, and a couple of end-of-quarter data-mining projects, and you’ll realize that you are working off every penny they pay you in your newfound yuppie lifestyle. That’s right, working it off through long hours, take-home work, being on call, and growing a stress-ball in your stomach – a tight, heavy, restless ball of stress the size of your fist lodged permanently between your belly-button and chest.

Then you come to realize that it’s really supply and demand curves in action, a simple macroeconomics concept. There are lots more individual non-managers than managers, so it would make sense that managers managing individual non-managers would be paid more … enough to keep them in line and motivated.

After that, you discover that past certain point in your career, your technical skills don’t really matter any more, regardless of how good of a programmer/developer you are. Now you got people who are supposed to help you with that, and in return, you’re suppose to organize everything.

So if you’re an individual team member, enjoy it while it lasts because it’s like being a kid with no responsibilities. Eat your veggies (do your reports), go to bed at nine (meet your individual deadlines), and wipe your own ass (clean up your messes) – that’s all asked of you. If you’re thinking career, though, you’ll most certainly be wiping other people’s asses.