Putt's Law

Putt’s Law explains a known concept: that the best engineers aren’t in charge, and those in charge aren’t deeply knowledgeable about the technology. While not universally true, this highlights a real challenge: managing technologists requires some understanding of their work. But managers often come from different backgrounds or have been away from the code for a long time.

The law’s corollary states: “Every technical hierarchy, in time, develops a competence inversion,” meaning the people at the top know less about the work than those below. The gap creates dysfunction: managers set unrealistic deadlines because they don’t understand technical subjects, while engineers build wrong solutions because they don’t understand the business context.

The lesson is clear: technical leadership should maintain technical competence or risk mismanaging the technical work.

• There is often a gap between deep technical understanding and management roles. Rarely does one person excel at both.
• Technical experts often aren't in management, and managers usually don't understand the technical details.
• This can lead to unrealistic expectations, such as when management sets unrealistic expectations because they don't understand the domain and its complexity. At the same time, engineers are feeling misunderstood.
• Successful organizations bridge this by training managers in tech basics or promoting technically savvy leaders.