Macher


The second phase of life is that of the macher. I believe the origin of "macher" is related to the verb "to do" or "to make." Phase two is the longest and, in some ways, the most enjoyable phase of life. A macher is someone who gets things done, who makes things happen, who gets results. When you are a macher, you are "putting points on the board." This phase is incredibly productive, and most machers get a real sense of satisfaction from doing what they do. Some machers enjoy it so much that they stay machers foreverand this is not a totally bad thing. If it weren't for the machers of the world, we'd all still be schlepping.

Machers are not just the inventors, the entrepreneurs, the craftsmen, and the geniusesalthough those folks generally are machers. What distinguishes a macher is that he or she adds value and makes a difference. Being a macher is usually equated with high performance, not the ordinary or mundane. Those who put in their eight hours and don't mess up too often aren't machers; they're sort of advanced schleppers. No, to be a macher, you have to be in that category that is often characterized by the exclamation, "We need a real macher to fix this!" In many firms, machers are the "rainmakers," the folks who generate business. The litmus test is thisif you take away the macher, the organization not only suffers greatly, it's just not the same.

Machers have the following interesting characteristics:

  • They are usually very focused, to the point of being driven.

  • They are intense.

  • They are results-oriented.

  • They understand the goal and can get it in the crosshairs. It is usually a bad thing to get between a macher and the macher's desired result.

  • Machers are charismatic, in both the good and bad sense. It is unusual for a macher to not be charismatic, because this trait is so often linked with leadership. There are exceptions, but not enough of them to warrant more space here.

There is a dark side. Machers will err on the side of believing that the end justifies the means because, to them, it does. They can be absolutely ruthless. People who are squeamish about hurting other people's feelings themselves will often employ machers, who have no such compunctions. The macher has no illusions about what he's getting paid forit's to get a result. But, if the truth be known, the macher would almost always do it for freeachievement is a very potent drug.

Machers can be self-limiting. The really good machers discover early in their careers that you have to be careful about breaking too much glass. Annoy enough people and you won't be able to get others to help youeven other machers! There are a lot of obnoxious young machers, but very few obnoxious old machers. The reason is obvious: It's hard for machers to progress if they can't build groups consisting (incidentally) of other machers. The scope of the problems they are asked to solve increases and gets to the point where fielding a team is the only answer. If the macher is incapable of developing the interpersonal skills necessary to get others to play, he will eventually wind up isolated and be overtaken by even more clever machers.

Machers enjoy a side benefit that is not insignificant. To some extent, they can be prima donnas and make their own rules. Why? Because many people and organizations will tolerate some pretty outrageous behavior if the problem to be solved is serious enough or the gain is big enough. So the macher can avoid much of the petty tyranny of organizations and bureaucracies by explicitly placing himself outside the normal system. Many machers choose this path simply because this is the only way they can function: by setting up a context in which they can get the job done by their rules. In any other context, they will fail because they have to obey constraints that they judge to be too onerous. But, live by the sword, die by the sword. When a macher fails, there is never an insufficiency of people waiting to bury himhis enemies tend to accumulate and have long memories. To survive outside the system, you have to be really good and have real integrity. If you don't, your first mistake will be your last.

Sometimes machers can become intoxicated by the power they wield and can really get out of control. In the end, an overly aggressive macher will self-destruct, but not before creating a pretty big mess. Machers rarely fade away quietly; rather, they go out in a blaze of fireworks. Hubris just catches up, and because machers do everything on a grand scalethey do have visionthey generally fail spectacularly.

Can you be a macher without having been a schlepper? Yes, but it is rare. Machers who have not served some kind of apprenticeship usually have a piece missing. It is tough to be a macher if you are not grounded in reality, and schlepping is the quintessential training ground in reality.

Machers tend to stay in the macher phase because they are an elite. They enjoy lots of tangible and intangible rewards in the business world in exchange for the results they achieve for their organizations. They are constantly being recruited for bigger and better challenges. It's a great life, and the risks are feworganizational backlash from time to time, and perhaps a premature coronary from excessive Type-A behavior. But most machers can deal with it.

In other areas of life, being a macher means being competent; actually, it means performing at the highest level of competence. There's a tendency to aspire to be a macher in all parts of one's life. Once one has become a macher in one part, it can be frustrating, as competency can be highly domain-specific. Ergo, many machers become one-dimensional, focusing their energies in their area of dominance. Because they tend to be competitive by nature, this is a natural stalling-out point for them. Once you are better than most of your peers, what is there left to strive for?

As exalted as machers are, there is a higher state. The Yiddish word for itmenschis pretty much untranslatable into English.




The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
The Software Development Edge(c) Essays on Managing Successful Projects
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 269

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net