The Pragmatic Programmers Interviewed

jpkunst writes "An interesting interview at the O'Reilly Network with Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas, authors of The Pragmatic Programmer, who recently started their own publishing company. Many topics are covered. Dave has this to say about outsourcing: 'To get job security, developers need to position themselves as highly effective business-value generators, working with the rest of the company to solve common goals. If you sit in your cube waiting for a spec to be thrown over the wall, then you may be in for a wait -- that spec might be in an envelope on its way to Bangalore'"

Comments

Egos vs. programmers

[heroine]

> To get job security, developers need to position
> themselves as highly effective business-value
> generators, working with the rest of the company
> to solve common goals.

So to live in the US, you need to have a huge ego, tell everyone else they're idiots, and hold up the entire operation so you can be the funnel through which everything must go. If it doesn't go through you, you have to call the person who bypassed you an idiot.

That seems to be the modus operandi of the guys with the most interaction with the entire company. It's an ego sport.

Re:Egos vs. programmers

[spiritgreywolf]

" To get job security, developers need to position themselves as highly effective business-value generators, working with the rest of the company to solve common goals."

No, it's not simply ego. It's people in the trenches actually taking the time to stick their head out of the average gopher hole and look around to see what the fuck is going on.

As a medical integration consultant, more than 90% of the people I'm called in to deal are full of the "Not My Job" syndrome. These NMJ's are of course the first whiny bastards that bitch, moan and complain about what stupid job management is doing. How many times do you hear ANYONE bitch, but offer any well-thought out solutions to go with it? Exactly.

Of course many of these "movers" have ego's. They HAVE to in order to manipulate, bypass or utterly CRUSH the sycophantic-retards in middle management that have their own little empires to worry about without focusing on growing the company.

Okay, so the "consultant-speak" at the start of the article was bit over the top. However the whiny bastards that choose to bitch someone out over the phone and only says "You give me the specs, that's not my job" like some pirate's parrot deserve exactly WTF they get.

Christ, just lose all the consultant blather and repeat after me, "Grow A Pair of Balls, Grow the Company."

I've never been wasted politically for doing what's right and what's in the best interest of the company. And yes, you NEED to grow an ego or some sycophantic little opportunistic weasel will take your ideas AND the credit. Don't like it? get a job at Mc-Jobs and focus on the fries.

Toot your own horn... You might make more money.