Is Management Inevitable

There are a few organizations where you can stay in the "technical stream" to fairly senior positions, but it is pretty rare.

Every job has has many aspects that are not interesting, unpleasant or even just plain drudgery whether it is a technical job or a management job - for me, it is  good job if drudgery isn't the dominant aspect. However, it is not always necessary to choose management or technical streams.

I have had positions at many levels, from solo engineer to managing small groups to managing departments to director and even VP/CTO. However I have been (very) fortunate to always retain a significant level of technical contribution. In some jobs I achieved this simply because I had the power to structure my group and its task assignments. When the job becomes a little less technically satisfying or fulfilling, I tend to increase my involvement in technical hobbies. In this way I have continued to contribute and produce as much technical content as any purely technical stream engineer. It isn't for everyone, since it often requires large amounts of overtime, but if you really want to keep your "hand in" with technology while still taking advantage of the benefits of managing a team, you can usually find a way. In my experience, if you are a manager and your job description doesn't include hands-on design but you "happen" to come up with a technical breakthrough after hours, nobody is going to complain too much.

There are a few organizations where you can stay in the "technical stream" to fairly senior positions, but it is pretty rare.

Every job has has many aspects that are not interesting, unpleasant or even just plain drudgery whether it is a technical job or a management job - for me, it is  good job if drudgery isn't the dominant aspect. However, it is not always necessary to choose management or technical streams.

I have had positions at many levels, from solo engineer to managing small groups to managing departments to director and even VP/CTO. However I have been (very) fortunate to always retain a significant level of technical contribution. In some jobs I achieved this simply because I had the power to structure my group and its task assignments. When the job becomes a little less technically satisfying or fulfilling, I tend to increase my involvement in technical hobbies. In this way I have continued to contribute and produce as much technical content as any purely technical stream engineer. It isn't for everyone, since it often requires large amounts of overtime, but if you really want to keep your "hand in" with technology while still taking advantage of the benefits of managing a team, you can usually find a way. In my experience, if you are a manager and your job description doesn't include hands-on design but you "happen" to come up with a technical breakthrough after hours, nobody is going to complain too much.