In this economic times, I understand that job security is an absolute worry that consciously/subconsciously brews in everybody's mind (those that are/want to earn income). Oftentimes, this worry brews so hot that it bubbles from a charming man/woman to becoming a hulk. In my case, this hasn't happened (at least, not yet) but I think that is becoming a worry.
The wonderful, true fairy tale story:
Let me elaborate: A company hires a smart, junior, software developer, who has plenty of potential, brilliant ideas and he/she is not afraid to speak his mind about what he/she believes. His/her nemesis (of which the new guy/girl doesn't know about, yet), the experienced senior developer, decides to groom the junior person to learn development best practices and, most importantly, the business.
Over time, the new person becomes valuable to the company: He produces brilliant code, the company's investment on him/her brings results and ROI is good (how to calculate ROI on the employee is beyond the scope of this blog). Now, he has power to object on his senior's decision in problem-solving.
Sooner (than later), he/she realises that he's mostly on support calls, doing bug fixes and user maintenance of the system application. He's less involved in the new business functionality and he/she finally realises that he thoughts of being a software developer is not what he/she dreamt it was/is.
The nemesis? You've already met him/her. He/she comes to you, once in a while to see if you're working and are busy and you have to kiss his/her behind (as well as his/her manager's). After all, you're getting paid to work, right?
Isn't this frustrating? After years of realising that your skills is being wasted, you decide to leave and you part ways and hope you never come back.
The question is: Why would your "hero"/mentor suddenly become your (unbeknowned to you) nemesis? The simplicity, that I found is this: job security.
Job Security:
Job security is the only things that keeps us breathing in this economy. Have you wondered why the sucker colleague, who pleases the manager all the time, climbs easy in the corporate ladder, whereas, you & I, the smart person who has good ideas to bring forward, sits in the "corner" of your desk and screams internally, and hope that someone upstairs might listen?
In South Africa, the "poor" people, who lives by "means-to-an-end" went into an operation called, Xenophobic attack. The operation is simple: Attack all foreigners who are successful. Little did they realise that the foreigners were the same foreigners who sheltered them during the Apartheid regime. They forgot their gratitude and the killing spree began. This was their brilliant idea, to create jobs that they could fill, and possibly to get government to listen to them.
This is how far job security can influence a person.
Job Security for software developers?
Job security for software developers have taken some weird techniques:
How do I fight back?
So, how do you fight back? Get some boxing gloves, train and invite him/her to a boxing ring and *some text removed to please sensitive readers*! Seriously. I suggest creating an environment where you can thrive and become who you want to be. Start a company.
If you can't start a company, find another job or replace the current nemesis and take his place. This is a competitive world and you have to make the cookie crumble. Never sacrifice your dignity & reputation to please others. I don't and it never got me far, but my time will come.
Now, go back to code!
The wonderful, true fairy tale story:
Let me elaborate: A company hires a smart, junior, software developer, who has plenty of potential, brilliant ideas and he/she is not afraid to speak his mind about what he/she believes. His/her nemesis (of which the new guy/girl doesn't know about, yet), the experienced senior developer, decides to groom the junior person to learn development best practices and, most importantly, the business.
Over time, the new person becomes valuable to the company: He produces brilliant code, the company's investment on him/her brings results and ROI is good (how to calculate ROI on the employee is beyond the scope of this blog). Now, he has power to object on his senior's decision in problem-solving.
Sooner (than later), he/she realises that he's mostly on support calls, doing bug fixes and user maintenance of the system application. He's less involved in the new business functionality and he/she finally realises that he thoughts of being a software developer is not what he/she dreamt it was/is.
The nemesis? You've already met him/her. He/she comes to you, once in a while to see if you're working and are busy and you have to kiss his/her behind (as well as his/her manager's). After all, you're getting paid to work, right?
Isn't this frustrating? After years of realising that your skills is being wasted, you decide to leave and you part ways and hope you never come back.
The question is: Why would your "hero"/mentor suddenly become your (unbeknowned to you) nemesis? The simplicity, that I found is this: job security.
Job Security:
Job security is the only things that keeps us breathing in this economy. Have you wondered why the sucker colleague, who pleases the manager all the time, climbs easy in the corporate ladder, whereas, you & I, the smart person who has good ideas to bring forward, sits in the "corner" of your desk and screams internally, and hope that someone upstairs might listen?
In South Africa, the "poor" people, who lives by "means-to-an-end" went into an operation called, Xenophobic attack. The operation is simple: Attack all foreigners who are successful. Little did they realise that the foreigners were the same foreigners who sheltered them during the Apartheid regime. They forgot their gratitude and the killing spree began. This was their brilliant idea, to create jobs that they could fill, and possibly to get government to listen to them.
This is how far job security can influence a person.
Job Security for software developers?
Job security for software developers have taken some weird techniques:
- Documentations: Some developers, realising that they feel threatened by the new "kid on the block" or feels like he/she is not worth, they prefer writing bad documented softwares or have little testing in code. This allows them to keep them secure for a while until they keep in their feet and fight back.
- Becoming the irreplaceable person: Some become the irreplaceable person. They purposely don't share their knowledge, such that, when he/she leaves, they know they will be re-hired just for knowledge sharing.
- Writing a system that looks simple but is complex to understand: Some developers, such as myself, architecturize software to make it simple for other developers to code and implement, but is complex to majority of developers. E.g. using regular expression, it beats 97% of my colleagues.
How do I fight back?
So, how do you fight back? Get some boxing gloves, train and invite him/her to a boxing ring and *some text removed to please sensitive readers*! Seriously. I suggest creating an environment where you can thrive and become who you want to be. Start a company.
If you can't start a company, find another job or replace the current nemesis and take his place. This is a competitive world and you have to make the cookie crumble. Never sacrifice your dignity & reputation to please others. I don't and it never got me far, but my time will come.
Now, go back to code!
Comments
Post a Comment