Last week Darrell posted an entry on “How to fix the software development industry”. I think Darrell hit the nail right on the head with his post. If you still haven’t read his post, go read it now…..ok, all done? Good.
Now, moving on. One of the problems that I see with the software development industry revolves around how the best of the best are treated within software and/or consulting shops. As we go through our career we’re continually learning new skills that can help us “code better.” When I started out programming I thought I was the shit, but, much to my dismay I wasn’t. Years later I’m still learning new and better ways to develop software. As we all know the deeper you get into this industry the more you realize there is to learn. The best programmers typically are the the ones that are doing everything they can to get better at what they do. They read books, study design patterns, learn the tricks of refactoring, and deepen their technical skills to help them get better at writing code.
As they learn and grow people begin to take notice. Their managers begin to look for ways to reward them for their hard work. They begin to be placed into leadership roles that allow them to mentor and guide other resources. Slowly they begin to be placed in bigger and better positions, leading and guiding bigger and better projects. They get a chance to manage a team, tell people what to work on, get to do some initial designs for the system, and then manage the team throughout the build of the project. The process continues until eventually that all star coder is doing everything except writing code.
As more and more of the all star’s are placed into managerial positions the team’s strength begins to weaken as other “less skilled” resources are brought in to fill their shoes. After all it’s just a programmer, any old person can come in and fill that position. As the value of the programmer is devalued those in the industry that may have otherwise considered a long career as a software developer begin to look at other “more respected” positions such as Project Manager. After all who wants to be one of those grunts that sits at a keyboard all day hitting keys to make turn the clients idea into a working software product. Very few in the industry realize that it takes the best of the best to build great software.
Rather then encouraging the best software developers and programmers to continue growing and expanding their software development skills their managers push them into leadership roles where they can become “respected” and “valued”. They’re no longer a code monkey, they’re a highly valued manager! As they continue on into their career they begin to encourage the best of the best from within their team to move into managerial roles. The cycle continues on…..and on…..and on.