Why Your IT Department Needs To Staff a Hacker

First time accepted submitter anaphora writes "In this TED Talk, Rory Sutherland discusses the need for every company to have a staff member with the power to do big things but no budget to spend: these are the kinds of individuals who are not afraid to recommend cheap and effective ways to solve big company problems. This article argues that, in the IT world, this person is none other than a highly-skilled hacker. From the article: 'To the media, the term “hacker” refers to a user who breaks into a computer system. To a programmer, “hacker” simply means a great programmer. In the corporate IT field, hackers are both revered as individuals who get a lot done without a lot of resources but feared as individuals who may be a little more “loose cannon” than your stock IT employee. Telling your CEO you want to hire a hacker may not be the best decision for an IT manager, but actually hiring one may be the best decision you can make.'"

Comments

Re:To some extent, yes

[CanHasDIY]

What a hacker does not do, is produce a solution that will be easily maintained.

Wrong, that depends on the hacker.

Also depends on who's following along afterwards. Even the simplest hacks will quickly confound pedigreed ponies who only know how to follow directions.

Most of the hacks I've managed over the years would (by design) be fairly simple for another hacker to figure out, but those MBA's running the department? Yeah, good luck with that, Chuckles.