It was 2 AM when I read one of the most annoying posts I'd ever seen. Now, I'm not one to name names and point out authors. Their views are their own. But the beauty of me not pointing to my specific reference is that you can probably think of another similar write-up fairly quickly. There are literally thousands that share similar traits, it just so happened that the one I'm going to talk about was especially bad.
It was an article that cited "hype-driven-development". A new term to me, but one not without merit.
The article listed out some recent buzzwordy topics (ex. blockchain, graphQL, etc...), with snide remarks, diagrams, and snippets of thought. I am all for tongue and cheek, I'm all for shitting on stuff that sucks, but what I'm not for is hypocritical cynicism.
What I mean by hypocritical cynicism, is that many of us who work in technology are burdened with various factors that make work suck. One of those factors is limited access to new technology or new approaches to solving problems. I hear people complain about this all the time. I've heard people complain about this in every company I've ever worked for in fact. Yet, when a new technology or design approach is proposed by someone who is perhaps not a "heads-down" technologist, well -- then it's just a shitty recommendation. When enough shitty recommendations are "forced" upon these people, they then write a cynical article about those recommendations.
These articles, peppered around in legitimate communities like medium, hacker news, Reddit, or otherwise, give a very good window into the passive-aggressive nature, and borderline -- if not full bore -- narcissism that seems to permeate and spread in technology organizations.
It adds as much value as flipping someone the bird for cutting you off in traffic, after they've taken the exit ramp; you might feel better about yourself, but you didn't affect any change or elicit any kind of reaction (positive or negative).
They certainly don't state their actual opinion at their job. They certainly don't provide detail around why those approaches / technologies are bad, and what the better alternatives are. No -- of course not. They simply hold their tongue, let their rage stew, and get behind a keyboard to vent to strangers.
I've seen this kind of crap in various forms online. In the last week alone, I've seen responses and written articles that complain about:
- Blockchain
- Devops being a real term / real job / not real development
- Cloud being "stupid" / Cloud-first being a term used by "idiots" (to the point that if someone says you are to make a cloud-first app, you should quit or not take the job)
- <insert programming language here> being useless and a waste of time
- Managers / Project managers providing zero value (the poster referred to everyone who isn't a coder as a "useless suit")
- Infamously and unending arguments about "tabs-vs.-spaces"
- Plus the "hype driven development" article that got me started with this article in the first place.
As I poured through these articles, posts, and comments I had an epiphany. I finally understood why "the business" side of every organization I've worked in has issues with the "I.T." side of the house.
When a business user, particularly a tech-savvy one, wants to get a problem solved they may start to do some research. When they make their proposal, and it doesn't get done, or it gets push-back, or they get no response at all, they continue that research independently. Inevitably, they'll wind up in some zealotry driven post, some cynical funnel, and start to paint a mental picture of who they're dealing with to get their problem solved.
If I was not in the technology side of house, and I saw the thousands of egotistical, elitist posts floating out there, I would not have a very good first impression. I certainly wouldn't take people on that side of the house seriously. It would force me into a "you have to prove yourselves" position, because business problems don't have the time -- nor the inclination -- to give two fucks about spaces vs. tabs.
What I see as the root cause of this problem is nothing more than posturing. People in this field want to prove they're smarter than the person next to them, and this underlying competitiveness doesn't necessarily (obviously) doesn't happen out in the open.
The solution to this is simple. If you have difficult staff that inject this kind of behavior into your workplace, coach them. If coaching doesn't work, let them go. It's really that simple. Anyone who isn't willing to try something new, or continually learn, doesn't have a place at the table of the tech-driven future every organization is reaching for.
Stop hiring people that only feed their illusory superiority complex. We need more empathy people, not more ego.