Rob really nailed it with this blog entry. He's talking about how and why great developers get booted up into the management track and why that's a really dumb way to treat your tech talent, not to mention just plain bad business.
You can read about the same idea on Wikipedia under the Peter Principle article. It basically says that we are promoted to our level of incompetence, then we get trapped there. Very few people have the insight or courage to bail from the bad position and get back to what they love and do well.
When I give my talk on Software Development Techniques and in Shipper's Unite I talk about the role of a technical lead. I encourage people to try this role out once during their career. It gives you a different perspective on software. The danger is when you allow the words manager to creep into your title. At that point someone's going to look at your job and think it's full-time management. Working as a tech lead, you at least have a chance to write code as well as direct the project. It's what Rob refers to as running a small team. I call it being a tech lead, but the idea is the same.
Talk to the great technical talents you know. I'll bet that every one of them has worked in a management role at least once during their career... then run screaming into the night. :)
In fact, here's a measure of how great your company is. Does someone in management have to leave the company to get back into code or can they transfer "back down" into code?
So try it out once, but as a tech lead, not as a manager. Maybe even time box the experience. One quarter or one year? It's a great way to give developers a taste of management to cure them of silly aspirations... (some people are convinced they should be managers, but they have not idea what that means). This can also help you build your leadership from within your team. Some of you will love it... some will hate it, but we'll all be better developers with the extra experience under our belts.
