Bigger Gains Are Often Found Through Removal

This is profound. It is counter-intuitive to what most of us do but it makes total sense. When I transitioned from Individual Contributor to Manager, the transition was little scary as most of the time I was involved in things that didn’t require “coding”. I was filled with guilt when I was putting more effort to manage than coding while my team was busy coding and doing the “real” work. I would take up stories in the sprint but more often would not be able to finish them. Also, since I have taken up stories, it was becoming difficult for me to effectively help the team - answering their questions, helping them troubleshoot when they needed my help, etc.

It was bad and I soon realized that it is important for me as a Manager to let go of things. Once I freed myself from this notion of being a “Hands-on” manager it brought back some sanity in my life and I was able to be of a lot more use for team.

I didn’t forget the coding as a skill. In my new project when it was required of me to step up and code few tools to help team, I was able to do that without major issues.

Like Ravi said, “Bigger gains are often found through removal.” I completely agree.