RE: Managing Extreme Programming

At 8:18 AM -0700 1/10/03, Steve Ropa wrote:
>Especially when it comes to our field, the ingrained hostility 
>between engineers and management seems very very very strong.  I 
>wonder why that is?

I think it's because often managers don't see engineers as their 
peers but rather their subordinates.  It's "Scotty Syndrome." 
Captain Kirk tells Scotty that he needs warp drive *now*, Scotty says 
"we need a few hours to repair the engines," Kirk says "*Now* 
Scotty!"  Scotty always seems to come through, and it's Kirk who is 
seen to save the day.

In many managers I've observed this type of deeply-ingrained 
disrespect for anyone not in a management role.  Anyone not in 
management is "labor" and just there to follow orders, and managers 
have far too much to do to understand what it is "the troops" do in 
any depth.  Pretty much everything about the work can be changed 
arbitrarily because "they'll think of something, or we'll find 
someone who will."

This attitude leads to practices like the current fad for third-world 
outsourcing.  After all, there's obviously no difference between a 
software developer billing US$100/hour and a software developer in 
the third world billing US$10/hour - they both sit at their keyboard 
and type for 8 hours a day, right?

>   Like I mentioned the other day, I imagine that a lot of managers 
>in our field used to be some of the better programmers who got 
>promoted for their successes into the management ranks.

I think promotion from within -- at least beyond the "lead engineer" 
or "architect" level -- is the exception these days rather than the 
rule.  The last 25 years or so have seen the development of a 
professional management caste in western business; in most 
organizations, it's absolutely impossible to start in the mail room 
and work your way up to the top no matter how much time you're 
willing to put into it.  Everyone is hired for a specific role, and 
if you're being hired for management you need a management education 
and background to qualify.

This is what "scientific management" has wrought.

   -- Chris

-- 
Chris Hanson, bDistributed.com, Inc.  |  Email: [email protected]
Custom Application Development        |  Phone: +1-847-372-3955
http://bdistributed.com/              |  Fax:   +1-847-589-3738
http://bdistributed.com/Articles/     |  Personal Email: [email protected]

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