managing geeks

I read through several posts that I had saved as drafts today. Some were close to done but are no longer relevant. Others were nothing more than a sentence or a link, and now I don't recall where I intended to take the story. I had saved only the link for this one and it's non-technical, but I liked the article and considering some of the churning over MOS, it seemed appropriate. (Draw your own conclusions about the connection)

Jeff Ello has written an article on managing the IT professional and normally, I find those articles are kinda silly. This one I liked, in part because he lays the stereotypes right out there and then explains why the behaviors are not what the stereotype assumes they are. He makes some good points and even uses House in the process. As an avid House fan, I appreciate this greatly. I don't do television - no cable, no disk, no antenna - but I do own every season of House. I know nothing about season 6.

The primary point : Respect is what matters in IT. We respect logic. We respect competence. We respect those who are who are capable and work toward rational effective solutions. This may be unusual, but even as a child, I was taught that respect is earned. I was expected to courteous to everyone, but respect was never to be given lightly. I was never told to respect my elders or that all authority figures deserved respect. Each individual member of the group had to earn it on their own. And I'm not gen-X or gen-Y, so no, I'm not a twenty-something anarchist.

The stereotypes, and the reality per Mr. Ello

Stereotype 1 : Geeks are egotistical

"It's not about being right for the sake of being right but being right for the sake of saving a lot of time, effort, money and credibility. IT is a team sport, so being right or wrong impacts other members of the group in non-trivial ways."

Stereotype 2 : Geeks have a victim mentality

"IT pros are sensitive to logic -- that's what you pay them for. When things don't add up, they are prone to express their opinions on the matter, and the level of response will be proportional to the absurdity of the event."

Stereotype 3 : Geeks are insubordinate

"Good IT pros are not anti-bureaucracy, as many observers think. They are anti-stupidity."

Stereotype 4 : Geeks are credit whores

"IT pros would prefer to make a good decision than to get credit for it. What will make them seek credit is the danger that a member of the group or management who is dangerous to the process might receive the credit for the work instead. That is insulting."

Stereotype 5 : Geeks are antisocial

Not going to quote this one - I just don't like company picnics. :)

So there are a fair number of semi-inflammatory statements in the article. If you're the sensitive type, don't read it. Yes, these are stereotypes and stereotypes are never true of everyone in the group. But certain job roles do draw certain types of people, and IT draws it's fair share of the logical kind. And the HR people don't quite get us, possibly because they're .... umm... right brained.

Mr. Ello does go on to explain to management how they need to change if they want to build more effective IT teams. After all, it doesn't make sense to hire your IT team for their logical thinking and analysis skills, and then expect them to check those skills at the door each morning to deal with the business of work. And if you're not logical, well, I promise to be courteous :)

A side story: my daughter works at the Apple store and she frequently needs to deal with the group of people known as the Geniuses. A few weeks ago, she was talking about work and how others were complaining about the technical ones and how difficult it is to get assistance from them. She didn't have the same problems and she likes working with the Genii. A few notes from her ramblings about why she thinks they work well together:

1. She doesn't waste their time and she only involves them when necessary. They know that, so when she asks, they respond.

2. She gives them the info they need, as in, 'I tried x, y and z. I'm thinking it might be w, but thought I should check with you before I tried it'.

3. She knows which ones know their stuff, and which ones don't. Respect is given accordingly.

There were a few other things in the stories she told, but you get the idea. She deals with them logically and they in turn work to help her get her job done. She's become very good friends with some of them in the process, resulting in some late night drinking parties that rival the Oak Table gatherings. (except there's dancing when Apple people are involved - and lots of twittering) I didn't teach her any of this - either it's a natural skill for her or she's learned by observing. (no, not the dancing or the twittering - stay on topic please) I did attempt to teach her set theory and statistics with her crayons when she was 6, and for that, I apologize.