"How Programmers Transition to Technical Managers"

This article is the 109th original piece by Lu Canwei.

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Recently, many students involved in development have asked me how I transitioned from technology to product management. Many feel it is difficult; in fact, transitioning from technology to product is essentially the same as moving from technology to technical management. It mainly comes down to a matter of mindset.

I can guarantee that 80% of technical colleagues do not transition to management on their own; rather, as they work longer in the company, they gradually start leading teams and are then transitioned into management roles, and I am no exception.

The biggest change here is not about whether you have management skills, but how to shift your mindset. When we are doing development, our mindset is that of an executor; we complete the assigned tasks, and then we feel we have done our job.

At this point, the greatest sense of achievement comes from having implemented a certain feature. However, when doing technical management, one often falls into a state of confusion, feeling that the time spent coding decreases daily, and the recognition of one's own value is not as high as before.

Gradually, new colleagues and their technical abilities begin to surpass yours, leading to a sense of discomfort and unease. At this time, anxiety sets in, and you start to feel like you know nothing, yet there is no time to learn.

Some colleagues simply revert to their previous ways, taking on a large amount of development work themselves, resulting in exhaustion from facing numerous business meetings and progress management.

At this point, a contradictory phenomenon arises: I can complete this feature in half a day, but when I hand it over to a teammate, it may take them two days to do it well. It seems easier for me to implement it myself, which ultimately leaves me worn out. Many years ago, I went through such a phase, often working until 2-3 AM, and once even working until noon the next day.

This approach can also lead to a problem where the project becomes completely out of control, and in the end, you have to clean up after your teammates, resulting in a very poor atmosphere for the entire team.

In fact, we need to distinguish between primary and secondary tasks and understand what is truly important. Is it about me solving all the problems, or is it about me guiding everyone to solve problems together?

When the team consists of only 2-3 people, management does not take up much time. However, once the team grows beyond 5 members, your coding time will significantly decrease. At this point, we need to find new value points, shifting from a focus on "me" to "us."

Delivering results based on the entire team's output, helping teammates grow, and letting go of the "me-centric" mindset is crucial. Although your teammates' abilities and experiences may not be superior to yours, you are all part of a team, and you wouldn't want to exhaust yourself. When your teammates can stand on their own, you will have more time to learn other things, such as gaining a deeper understanding of the business and product, as well as project management.

The biggest difference between execution and management is that one is labor-intensive while the other is thought-intensive. Only by helping others succeed can you achieve personal success. For most people, giving up existing skills triggers fear, but if a cup is already full of water, how can we pour in juice or other things?

Therefore, we must maintain a "beginner's mind," always ready to accept new knowledge, so that we can continue to grow. Just like eating, what you consume does not fill your stomach (of course, fat is another matter), but it helps you grow and forms your flesh and blood.

That's all for today's update.

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