Quote:
Originally Posted by Sayantsi
That sums up so many programmers and IT "gurus" I've had the displeasure of dealing with over the years.
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Wow... Yes, I've seen some real inflexible folks over the years, people representing themselves as "experts" with very little real-world experience, and people tied to specific technologies who couldn't generalize a solution to save their lives, etc., but most of the serious issues I've seen have come from four main sources:
(1) Managers who either don't really understand what they manage or won't honestly listen to their technical people. Or both. Sometimes something which looks simple to a layperson ... or nontechnical manager ... has non-obvious ramifications. Really.
(2) Technical people who would rather protect the stuff they already know (their "tech silo") then learn about something new, even if the something new really *is* better in the long run. Just because it's new doesn't make it bad, just as it doesn't make the newer thing "better" by itself.
(3) Consultants more interested in making a buck than in actually solving client problems. Noting that support contracts can be lucrative. :-)
(4) Sales people who are given free rein to promise the moon 20 years before the rocket has been invented. :-( It's good to have sales staff who know the product, but if they only know enough to be dangerous, that can cause serious issues. And if they have the power to create contracts and have customers sign them before consulting with the technical staff...
I've been writing software for internal corporate use for 20+ years, and I've also had exposure to writing software for external customers (albeit very technical/sophisticated customers in most cases, often other IT departments who had full access to our source code AND the ability to modify it on site), and most of the folks I've worked with were fairly good, but the airline industry might not be typical when it comes to technology hiring or policy implementation.
Most of the issues I've seen stem from one of the sources I cite above, and I've also come to almost seriously believe that an MBA subtracts 50 points from a person's IQ. :-(
Such degrees are extremely valuable in some contexts, to be sure, but they emphatically do NOT make someone qualified (at least by themselves) to critique, develop, or implement IT processes. An average technical person with an MBA is still an average technical person, and a better technical person will often have better insights into many if not most technical situations. Use the expertise at your fingertips, people. Degrees do not trump knowledge or experience.
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Something which is "good enough" for the developer to use isn't always ready for use by other people...
