(An entry from the diary of a fictitious software project manager)
Had a tough day today. Two TLs came to me for my opinion on an architectural issue. Gosh! Why me? Of course, I couldn't say that to them. I was their manager, after all. I had to know.
I thought I had handled it quite cleverly.
I first asked both of them to present their points of opinion. Girish started off. He used a whole lot of technical jargon. I didn't understand most of it. I kept hearing the words synchronous and asynchronous a lot. Mahesh tried interrupting him to make a point. I sternly asked him to wait till Girish completed. It was difficult making sense of what Girish was saying anyway. To have Mahesh add his interpretation and make sense of that would be too much for me to take.
After Girish concluded, I asked Mahesh to present his case. Mahesh used simpler terms. They made more sense. In the end, I understood more of what Mahesh said than what Girish said. That pretty much decided in whose favor I was going to rule. Of course I couldn't put it plainly.
After hearing them both out, I said something to the effect that both had valid points to make and I really appreciated the technical expertise of both. In the present circumstances, however, I tend to think that we should do .... and I explained what I thought Mahesh had said.
That evening, I was quite startled when Som came to me and said he also thought Girish's approach was right and was glad that both of us thought alike!! I did not dare to investigate.
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