I am not sure why but for some reason this topic has come up for me like 8 times this week. Rather than continue to talk about it I figured I would just post one of my “Whiffs of Wisdom” some people call them “Manosisms”. Apparently I am the worst person in the world at coming up with anecdotes but people get my drift so in my book that means success.
Whiffs of Wisdom #18
On Project Managers and Security People
Every Technology organization needs Project Managers and Security-focused Engineers. There ACTUALLY IS a magic number of these individuals to have in your organization. I don’t know what that number is, but I know when I have one too many of either. These folks bring order to chaos (Engineers are notoriously terrible at project management) but the moment is starts becoming more about the process versus the END RESULTS I know we have gotten off track. There is nothing more effective than a great project manager and nothing more destructive than an overbearing rule-nazi project manager. You need to watch it closely because left to their own well-meaning devices these groups tend to create Bureaus of Business Prevention.
\Mm
LooseBolts 
Can we also say this about many different rolls? Like there is a magic number of [E/S]VP’s or C level types before an organization can not get out of its own way or has too much infighting/politics? PM’s for sure can create business provention but the VP’s and C levels can just plain wreck an entire company on a hunch or a whim or in many cases ignorance and ego…
I agree that this is one of those Mikeisms that was worth documenting and I also agree that you could apply this roles across the organization. In fact, i have found myself using this Whiffs of Wisdom regarding PjMs and other roles on many occasions. Finding that magic number is the fun part.