Putt's Law
Putt’s Law:
“Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand.”
Putt’s Corollary:
“Every technical hierarchy, in time, develops a competence inversion.”
In other words, those who are technically competent remain directly in charge of the technology while those without technical competence move into management.
Origin
Section titled “Origin”Attributed to Archibald Putt, Putt’s Law and the Successful Technocrat (1981).
Still Applicable?
Section titled “Still Applicable?”Yes. A cautionary tale for technical leadership.
Additional Detail
Section titled “Additional Detail”Putt’s Law is a tongue-in-cheek observation about the frequent disconnect between technical knowledge and organizational authority. It serves as a reminder that effective engineering leadership requires technical empathy, even when direct hands-on experience isn’t possible. Managers who don’t understand the work risk making poor decisions, while experts who aren’t empowered can feel demoralized or ignored.
Modern leadership models encourage bridging this gap through technical curiosity, servant leadership, and collaborative decision-making. It’s not necessary for engineering leaders to write production code — but they must understand the tradeoffs and complexity their teams face.