I really like what Tom Evslin¹ said about how to manage different type of CEO.

As difficult as it is for a programmer to manage a non-technical CEO (yesterday’s post), managing a CEO who is technical or thinks he or she is technical is much harder.  A CEO who knows programmer-speak can be very difficult to manage.

Read the whole series:

1. Managing (non-technical) CEOs for Programmers

2. Managing (technical) CEOs for Programmers

Very accurate and reflected the same experience I have in my carrer. They should make Tom’s article a compulsory reading in computer science :-)

While you’re there, read also the other series Tom’s have in reverse, how to manage programmers :-)

Part 1 of this series is a phrase book of programmer-speak.

Part 2 is the meaning of “done” and how to know when you’ll get there.  There’s another Bill Gates story here as well.

Part 3 is about features that kill projects.

Part 4 is about super debuggers.

I agreed with Tom – great programmers & debuggers are hard to come by. In my entire carrer, I only come across 2 other person whom I consider great programmers. So if you know one, cherish them. They are really rare.

¹ Tom is the Chairman of ITXC – I follow his blog to get news on VoIP but hey, you never know what you get – I love his management writing.