As a science graduate I hated managers. I loathed the hollowness of my MBA pals. To me, discovery mattered. Being inventive, knowing the complexities of systems gave sufficient stimuli to give more than the modicum of hard-work necessary to get along.
Probably, life has a way of getting you where you should, irrespective of your opinions.I ended up being a manager, right after my “management hating” post-graduation days. And, the doors for a new paradigm were opened wide. ” Understanding systems” to “making them work” is a phenomenal change.
Management taught me to be adaptive. I started appreciating the constancy of change. There were no more “canons” as my Physics textbooks propounded.
Management helped me to have a 360 degree view of things ( We do 2-pie and n-pie calculations in Physics, but seldom get to see the practicality of them). Opinions stopped bothering me – for I was trying to re-construct an average of what each one thinks “the best”. Hail Teamwork! It works!
Management curtailed my aggression – from ” If it is good, let do it” to ” Let us deliberate on when and how to embrace the good things”.
Management taught me alignment – more than the optics gadgetry in my labs. What you think is the best to do is not always the right choice for the system. To have a successful system needs alignment- not just the best individual elements.
Management kicked my ego to a distance. And, from a distance I find it real BIG indeed. Ego did not work as much as occasional gulping down did.
Management showed me that understanding the system is only half the story. Making it work despite its inherent composition to achieve goals is the other half. And, there is no end to learning about both.