In my latest column for A List Apart I discuss our obsession with “managerial tracks” in career development, and propose something different. From Managing and Making: It Doesn’t Have to Be One or the Other:

I think we need a career system that encourages people to oscillate between individual contributor roles and manager roles. Maybe we provide “manager sabbaticals” where a manager becomes an individual contributor on a team for six to nine months. Maybe when a manager goes on vacation, an individual contributor takes on their role for a period of time (or for the duration of an entire project). I don’t know exactly what this looks like yet, but I think it’s important for us to figure it out.

I explain why in the article. I’d also like to point out that my original title for the piece was “Managing and Making: It Doesn’t Have To Be A Dirty Dance”, and it featured this photo:

I’m really glad my editor talked me out of it. It’s not good to make jokes that only people who grew up in the 80s will appreciate.

It’s a good joke, though.