"How do you decide between C#, Java, PHP, and Python? The only real difference is which one you know better. If you have a serious Java guru on your team who has build several large systems successfully with Java, youre going to be a hell of a lot more successful with Java than with C#, not because Java is a better language its not, but the differences are too minor to matter but because he knows it better." - Joel Spolsky
Joel sometime surprises me with his post. I think his ideas on management as expressed here are excellent.
Joel on Software
The Identity Management Method
This item ran on the Joel on Software homepage on Thursday, August 10, 2006
When you’re trying to get a team all working in the same direction, we’ve
seen that Command and Control management and Econ 101 management both fail
pretty badly in high tech, knowledge- oriented teams.
That leaves a technique that I’m going to have to call The Identity Method.
The goal here is to manage by making people identify with the goals
you’re trying to achieve. That’s a lot trickier than the other methods, and it
requires some serious interpersonal skills to pull off. But if you do it
right, it works better than any other method.
The problem with Econ 101 management is that it subverts intrinsic
motivation. The Identity Method is a way to create intrinsic motivation.
