(no subject)
Mar. 31st, 2006 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
per_soloSo, I was given an article by a friend, talking about how the best way to not be outsourced in IT was to learn business and management skills..
Well, of course, this topic has also been on Slashdot...so, I'm going to reprint a few comments I've seen that jumped out at me, and either made me go "Hmmm", or made me chuckle.
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So the best way to avoid being outsourced IT? is to get into management? doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of getting into IT? That's kinda like saying the best way to avoid losing your job in the steel mill is to get a degree in medicine.
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The best IT managers tend to grock technology.
Here are the attributes of the best managers I have had (in order of importance).
1. Actually listen to the people they manage.
2. Have good social and communication skills.
3. Have some domain expertise..
4. Have some technical expertise..
And my best managers have usually been women.
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It sounds that way, but it isn't entirely. From what I have experienced, the suits have a real problem getting an IT guy to see their point of view, and the same is true in reverse. Someone who has the experience to understand why some of the ridiculous things managers ask for aren't as foolish when looked at from their perspective also knows how to employ the inverse.
That is a person who can lead a tech team from the frontlines and then come back to the Meeting Room and be an evangilist whos opinion carries weight. I view it as a redefinition of what a "project manager's" responsibilities and place in the corporate structure are.
Sometimes it isn't about a business wanting you to add up time cards and crack the whip. I think any geek would bend over backwards if it meant they could show some young turks through all the mistakes they had to figure out alone. Maybe business are learning that PHB's screw the IT shit up, so they go to their fall back option - can one of these geeks speak our language and will he wear a suit twice a year?
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Like say, those of us who went into the field 'cause we liked it. If I wanted to be a manager, I'd have gone to business school in the first place. I hate when people just automatically assume that if you're successful, you'll inevitably end up in management. It's even in TFA: "The time period one spends as a programmer is becoming compressed." Like it's just a natural stepping-stone.
I'm a programmer, I'm proud of it, and I'm glad I can make a living at it. The head research programmer at my last job was 40, and still hacking Scheme and C. I hope that's where I'll be when I'm 40. Maybe it won't be possible, but if I have to go back to school to retrain, the last thing I'm getting is an MBA. I'm gonna look around for another career I like.
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Those are just a few comments, I'll have to look at more later, but if you want to go look, the pages are here..first the article, then the Slashdot page.
http://computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,110085,00.html
http://it.slashdot.org/it/06/03/30/220219.shtml
Any thoughts?
Well, of course, this topic has also been on Slashdot...so, I'm going to reprint a few comments I've seen that jumped out at me, and either made me go "Hmmm", or made me chuckle.
***********************************************************************************************
So the best way to avoid being outsourced IT? is to get into management? doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose of getting into IT? That's kinda like saying the best way to avoid losing your job in the steel mill is to get a degree in medicine.
****************************************************************
The best IT managers tend to grock technology.
Here are the attributes of the best managers I have had (in order of importance).
1. Actually listen to the people they manage.
2. Have good social and communication skills.
3. Have some domain expertise..
4. Have some technical expertise..
And my best managers have usually been women.
****************************************************************
It sounds that way, but it isn't entirely. From what I have experienced, the suits have a real problem getting an IT guy to see their point of view, and the same is true in reverse. Someone who has the experience to understand why some of the ridiculous things managers ask for aren't as foolish when looked at from their perspective also knows how to employ the inverse.
That is a person who can lead a tech team from the frontlines and then come back to the Meeting Room and be an evangilist whos opinion carries weight. I view it as a redefinition of what a "project manager's" responsibilities and place in the corporate structure are.
Sometimes it isn't about a business wanting you to add up time cards and crack the whip. I think any geek would bend over backwards if it meant they could show some young turks through all the mistakes they had to figure out alone. Maybe business are learning that PHB's screw the IT shit up, so they go to their fall back option - can one of these geeks speak our language and will he wear a suit twice a year?
****************************************************************
Like say, those of us who went into the field 'cause we liked it. If I wanted to be a manager, I'd have gone to business school in the first place. I hate when people just automatically assume that if you're successful, you'll inevitably end up in management. It's even in TFA: "The time period one spends as a programmer is becoming compressed." Like it's just a natural stepping-stone.
I'm a programmer, I'm proud of it, and I'm glad I can make a living at it. The head research programmer at my last job was 40, and still hacking Scheme and C. I hope that's where I'll be when I'm 40. Maybe it won't be possible, but if I have to go back to school to retrain, the last thing I'm getting is an MBA. I'm gonna look around for another career I like.
****************************************************************
Those are just a few comments, I'll have to look at more later, but if you want to go look, the pages are here..first the article, then the Slashdot page.
http://computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/story/0,10801,110085,00.html
http://it.slashdot.org/it/06/03/30/220219.shtml
Any thoughts?
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 07:01 pm (UTC)I THINK I'll have to study some criminology..but, I've got school, and time...