Mission

Let’s face it: management is pretty damn hard. It’s an art-form that humanity aims to master, yet likely never will. Nevertheless, organizations rise and fall with good leadership and management: it’s a nut worth cracking.

It also happens to be pretty damn fascinating and fun.

Alt.management aims to level up technology leaders. It goes deep on the people and organizational aspects of the job, building on the reality that most organization’s challenges are not technological, they’re human. If this is news to you — well, I suppose now you know.

Who is this for?

You may have encountered the challenges of working with other people in a software development context. You may be slightly surprised, even intrigued by how they act. If this is the case, and you want to explore this topic with me: welcome.

Perhaps you are an individual contributor that needs to increasingly deal with people, or even has management aspirations. Perhaps you are a manager or tech lead new to the job, or more seasoned manager that appreciates a fresh angle. Perhaps you’re just a casual observer of humankind.

What to expect

My name is Zef Hemel, I’ve been leading engineers and engineering leaders since forever, and for just as long have been fascinated by the human aspects of the job. Alt.management is my effort to spread this fascination and to provoke thought and insight in my audience.

The strategy: a slow but steady drip.

Generally I post 1 nugget per week. 1-2k words. A (quasi) random management topic. Tons of hilarious dad jokes and obscure cultural references.

Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes you giggle. Sometimes it is exactly what you needed at exactly the right time, and...

Damn you, Zef!

Then I know I have succeeded.

What’s in a name

The name is partially a reference to the old usenet days, partially a hint at the alternative angle I try to find, partially a reference to the under-leveraged Alt key on your keyboard, but also... it’s also a cool domain name that I managed to grab a while back.