Re:Why your programmers just want to code
by TeMPOraL on Friday December 01, 2017 @08:32AM
(#15823667)
> Perhaps our viewpoints on this issue are colored by our history and current situation.
Might be.
I'm not disagreeing with the article about how programmers can be completely discouraged by the treatment they (or you here) described. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped straight to ignoring the core point and commenting on everything else that the article said, that I believe exemplifies pathological issues that hurt the culture in the company.
Re:Why your programmers just want to code
by JoeAltmaier on Friday December 01, 2017 @08:53AM
(#15823783)
Right; I'm of a similar opinion on that part. Philosophers have always thought we needed a philosopher king; military types want a General for president; businesspeople want a merchant king. Conversely, team leads think everybody on the team should know what they do.
We need a leader that can lead. Can enable the team to progress. Without asking them all to understand the details of the goals (business plan; budget negotiations etc).
I for one am on a contract that's exactly as called out in the OP. Been on the job for 2 months (today), and have precisely one line of useful code contributed to the code base. Not for lack of trying; I've written a lot but its all been rejected out of hand for not being 'in process'.
I've responded by putting my head down, shutting up and doing literally what they ask - including moving that line of code between the half-dozen incompatible source bases repeatedly. I've shunned meetings, reduced my email to terse responses, and begun looking for another contract in every free minute.
You have a startup environment where I can move fast and deliver a feature a day? I'm your guy. But make me rebuild a Gb of shabby code over a slow link a dozen times because of thousands of poorly-written 'tests' that fail intermittently, I'm going to back away carefully and bow out.