knowledge hoarding

A good engineering manager should prevent knowledge hoarding.

Knowledge hoarding happens when an individual contributor mistakenly believes that it is in his self-interest to be the only person who knows how to do something on a team. This increases his value to the organization; if he shares his knowledge either through mentorship or documentation, the thinking goes, he's creating a threat to his position.

The problem is that this is how tyrants think. Tyrants are perennially paranoid and suspicious that their underlings are constantly conspiring to murder them and take their place, therefore justifying their ruthless suppression. They hoard power all to themselves; the result is abject misery for everyone.

In a functional organization, an individual contributor recognizes that knowledge hoarding has consequences. Other contributors must interrupt him constantly for help. He must make himself available to handle technical problems at all hours. Although some people enjoy playing the role of the hero, this often leads to burnout, hurting the individual's productivity and thus harming the organization as a whole. Engineering managers must recognize this situation when it arises and require individual contributors to share their expertise with other members of a team, either by encouraging one-on-one knowledge sharing sessions, documentation, or both.

Don't run your organization like a dysfunctional tyranny. Encourage the development of institutional knowledge. Ensure that ICs understand that it is indeed in their self-interest to bring other team members up to speed, rather than hoarding knowledge to themselves as some sort of misguided attempt at job security.