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(following up on a follow up)
So when you do have many people working under you - you need to make a decision: can you still write code in you dubious spare time?
Well, I COULD make the time.
Could I? I think so. It's a simple matter of neglecting some of you managerial responsibilities, and caring less about the code your developers produce. It ain't so hard. You just need to be in the right frame of mind.
But you really can't.
There's a phrase which states that a person will be promoted inside an organization to a position he will not be good at (simply because if he were any good at it - he will continue getting promoted). So the employees of the world can only expect to be good at what they do for a long time and get paid well in the process. In the end - we all stink (Six Feet Under is playing on the TV now. I think it has some influence)
So if you do want to continue getting ahead - you need to forego the antics of Christmas Past and look to the future. You enjoy writing code, but your REAL job is the other people's code and not your own.
What happens if you trust the developers too much and not check up on them? Well, it depends: if you have good developers they will just misunderstand or misinterpret your intentions (and it's bound to happen) so you'll have a great solution that you don't need; if you have lousy developers... well... you know.
I never realized how hard it is to persistently write one blog post a day. I tried it for a couple of days, I think, and then gave up (maybe it was three?). My hat's off to the psychos of this sphere like Roy, Oren, Raymond, Scott and all the other folks I can't seem to find the time to read.
* reposted due to misdating.