Uh … why did you do this? by Adam Shand

In 2009, when I wrapped up at Weta Digital, I'd been working as a manager for over ten years and was increasingly fascinated by what made groups tick.  Why did some groups of people thrive and produce excellent work?  Why did other groups seemingly struggle to achieve anything?  Why could the addition (or removal) of a single person so dramatically affect the health and productivity of a team?

I'd been introduced to Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language a few years earlier and decided to try and write a book of management patterns. Over the next couple of years of travelling, I started writing down the patterns I'd observed. But as sometimes happens, it never eventuated into anything beyond a bunch of drafts in my notebook.

I think two things changed. The more I wrote, the more intimidated I became by what I had set out to accomplish.  And as the years passed since I'd worked as a manager, the less qualified I felt to write something like this.

But I'm tired of this sitting in the back of my mind as something that was never finished. It isn't what I'd originally envisioned, but hopefully it might still be useful to someone.

One last note.  Over the last fifteen years, the terms manager and managing have fallen out of vogue in favour of leader and leading. Despite the painful Dilbert truths, I prefer the concept of managers and managing.  Too often leadership is presented as something you are, something you embody.  Leadership is an important quality in management, but I think it's a slippery thing to teach. When you are managing something, you are directly involved in the process.  You're not a figurehead or an inspirational force, you are in the trenches helping get done whatever needs to be done.  You are accountable for the successes and failures of your teams and projects.  Managing is active and has skin in the game in a way that leaders often don't.