> HN will hate this, and I say this as a confirmed bachelor myself, but I wonder if parents make better managers because they are less likely to lose perspective and become stressed over things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things?
Maybe! I've had good managers who were and weren't parents. I'm a parent, but don't enjoy managing.
> Weirdly I seem to do my best managing when I've become emotionally checked out.
A perspective approximating objectivity is exactly what techniques like CBT try to teach you: seeing things as they really are, without your emotions coloring it.
> I wish I could just float around the organisation fixing problems, streamlining processes and re-jigging work systems
That exists. See the solver staff engineer archetype. I suspect it exists more at larger orgs who can support the role effectively, though. But, I think that is me as well. I enjoy being dropped on stalled projects/difficult technical tasks, unblocking it, and moving to the next thing.
Maybe! I've had good managers who were and weren't parents. I'm a parent, but don't enjoy managing.
> Weirdly I seem to do my best managing when I've become emotionally checked out.
A perspective approximating objectivity is exactly what techniques like CBT try to teach you: seeing things as they really are, without your emotions coloring it.
> I wish I could just float around the organisation fixing problems, streamlining processes and re-jigging work systems
That exists. See the solver staff engineer archetype. I suspect it exists more at larger orgs who can support the role effectively, though. But, I think that is me as well. I enjoy being dropped on stalled projects/difficult technical tasks, unblocking it, and moving to the next thing.