The Complete Lack of Agility in Corporate America !

Why is it so many I.T. Managers simply do NOT understand what being Agile Means ?!?

Whenever I talk with I.T. Managers, and I talk to them quite often, I am constantly faced with a complete lack of understanding as to what being Agile really means.

Point #1

You cannot be Agile is you have to make a conscious effort to remind yourself of all those little silly programmer details !

For instance, who cares what a default routes.rb file does in good ole Ruby on Rails !

You cannot seriously think the default routes.rb file has any bearing on doing professional work, can you ?!?

Of maybe you can, but there is very little real value in using the default routes.rb file.  There is very little value in using the exact same patterns everyone else is aware of because doing so leaves your online systems vulnerable to hackers who know the standard patterns everyone is supposed to know about.

Point #2

At some point all human being simply must move along from having to recite simpler facts to working with more complex facts.

All of us who went to grade school in the U.S. had to recite our A,B,C’s whenever we were asked to do so as a way to demonstrate this basic level of understanding however a time did arrive, and thankfully so, when we were simply assumed to know that the English alphabet was all about and we were not asked about the A,B,C’s beyond that point in time.  Generally speaking, the point one graduated from one grade to another is when teachers ceased asking us to recite the overly simplistic so they could appear to be intelligent.

It completely blows me away that anyone in a professional setting would waste their time and the time of anyone they interview with overly simplistic questions about details only a noob would care about.  Sure I can sit there and recite the Alphabet just to prove I know there is such a thing as the English Alphabet but then I could also recite the multiplication tables as well as some early U.S. History.  Asking a professional who has more than 5+ yrs of software engineering experience about overly simplistic details no professional would seriously care about let alone ever deal with is senseless and stupid.  ( I was about to say it was border-line stupid but then I realized it is nothing less than stupid.)

I get most I.T. Managers have no real software engineering experience.  I also get most I.T. Managers cannot expect to know what what real-world software development is all about.  What I do not get is why a fellow geek would bother asking about silly stupid details like the interaction I am about to share with you.

Point #3

I want to feel as-though the people I am talking with are at-least somewhat intelligent.

When I am talking with people I can only feel I am talking with someone who has some intelligence if certain assumptions exist between us.

If I am asked about topics I learned back when I was in grade school I tend to feel the person who asked me about that stuff is a moron !  And rightfully so !

If I am asked about topics I feel are more on a level of those who have the experience we are telling each other we have I may feel the person I am talking with has some intelligence and the person I am talking to might feel the same about me.

When an I.T. Manager chooses to ignore what I have stated in my Resume I feel as though that person chose to either not read what was written or read it and then chose to disbelieve it for whatever reason.

When a person I may be working for chooses to ask questions about certain facts I would not be able to get away with on the job I feel I am talking with a complete moron, and rightfully so !

Point #4

It is NOT possible to make an assessment as to the skill someone has by talking about those skills.

This is a fact that can be proven and is proven on a daily basis in Corporate America.

The only thing one can learn by talking with someone is whether or not that person can communicate verbally.

Were it possible to make an assessment as to the skill someone has by talking to them there would be no need for professional sports teams to hold try-outs – they would simply talk to each athlete to make their assessments.  And yet, athletes are asked to perform on the field using actual equipment they might be asked to use were they to make the team.

Some few companies have tried to form their assessments about technical skills by asking the person being interviewed to perform however unless I am used to using a specific computer with a specific keyboard and mouse along with specific software I will invariably stumble about for a short time until I can build-up enough muscle memory to make equipment I do not use daily useful to me.  I am sure most humans have this same experience and so it is again NOT possible to make an accurate assessment under the conditions most companies have chosen to use.

Most companies choose to employ some kind of written test to make their skills assessments.  The problem with this is they also choose to bar those who take those tests from using Google, for instance.  Now I don’t know what everybody’s experience is while they are on the job but I do know what my experience has been across the board and I have absolutely NEVER been asked to seriously not use Google when working in a professional capacity in Corporate America.  Even a company like Verizon Wireless, who when I was there from 08-2009 through 04-2010 would not allow their employees to use GMail because I was told GMail is not a secure site and could cause problems of some kind – then later this policy was reversed and GMail was allowed.  Let’s ignore the fact that Verizon Wireless was at that time trying to form an alliance with Google over the Android OS and the fact that Verizon Wireless’s internal policies stated they felt certain Google Sites could not be trusted – Verizon Wireless also made no attempt to form a policy that stated Google was off-limits.  Why ?   Because access to the Internet and the use of Google is seen as being a requirement when working on a professional level because doing so saves time.

What freaking moron would want to tell a professional to not use Google when taking a test that is supposed to highlight technical skills ?  What moron indeed ?!?

It is NOT possible to make an assessment as to the technical skill someone has by writing about those skills.

If you want to make an assessment as to technical skills then watch what people do on the job for a period of time.

Professional Skills require a professional and professionals get paid for their work or they are NOT being professionals.

Point #5

Nobody in Corporate America can or will hire above their own skill-level !

Nobody wants to let anyone see they themselves are lacking in some technical area therefore the safest bet is to hire at or below one’s own perceived skill-level, to do otherwise would be professional suicide, or so the feeling must go according to how professionals are being interviewed per my own observations.

This must be why people choose to ask the dumbest most asinine questions known to mankind during their interviews.  They want to know the person they are about to hire has the least technical skill as compared to their own.  If more advanced questions were to be asked and the person they asked responded in an intelligent manner the person asking those questions might appear to have more skill than the person who is asking the questions and if Management were to learn about this who might get the better job ?!?   Hmmmm ?!?

California is an at-will state !

Employment at-will allows companies to make a hiring or firing decision without any regard to the consequences or their actions.  Why is it any company would wring their hands over who to hire is a complete mystery to me.  The only person who carries the risks of not being able to perform on the job is the prospective employee.  Companies carry no risks in this regard.

What is the point of asking anyone in California to pass any kind of technical skills assessment is wasteful and stupid, IMHO.

Given the fact that technical skills cannot be assessed using any process other than to watch what people do on the job and the fact that California is an at-will state means the only sure and most economical way to make a real-world technical assessment is to hire people and watch what they do on the job.

Why not hire 10 people, let all 10 know there is one slot open and that a decision will be made at the 6 month mark and then watch to see which of the 10 does a better job ?!?  Worried about spending too much money in this regard ?  Make the period 3 months and offer less money during this 3 months than would be awarded upon hire ?!?

At a point when there are 2 million unemployed people in California it seems stupid to me to put prospective employees through a verbal or written form of technical skill assessment as a way to vet a prospective employee.

Those who have great verbal skills and great rote memories will pass the initial technical screens with flying colors – even those who cannot substantiate their skills using the rest of their minds and bodies.

Those who have great technical skills but no desire to talk about what they know will be shunned by the very companies who should be hiring this kind of a person.  Technical skills have nothing to do with speaking or writing.  Technical skills have everything to do with doing the work using one’s hands.

Software Engineering has more to do with one’s fingers tickling a keyboard while working on a software problem than whether or not one can verbalize what is being done.

Software Engineering has more to do with one’s fingers tickling those keyboards one is tickling most often while working on a software problem than whether or not one can verbalize or write about what is being done.

Those who can write code faster than they can talk about the code they may wish to write will have verbal skills that suck even though they will be able to write stellar code with the best of them.

And don’t even get me started about those who have to use a white-board when writing their code.  Nobody ever produced working code when using a white-board and yet more times than I care to recount I am asked to write some code on a white-board – idiots ! White-boards are for scribbling upon, not useful when writing software.

I spent just about 10 minutes more than 36 years ago figuring-out how useless a white-board is when writing code.  I spent more time scribbling on the white-board that could have been used to write the code.  I get far more code written while sitting-down with hands on my keyboard than were any other technique to be used to achieve the act of writing code.

Point #6

Nobody is being asked to be innovative in Corporate America !

Innovation is virtually dead in Corporate America by and large.  Sure there are small pockets of innovation but even those are few and far between.

Innovation is shunned in Corporate America.

I have been point-blank told by the Manager conducting more than one interview with me that I would not be allowed to be the least bit innovative on the job.  Insight, innovation and intuition are not desire attributes in Corporate America !

Leadership is not a skill that is being taught in Corporate America.

Innovation is not desired.

Point #7

Can America maintain her leadership in the world ?   No, but then who really cares about this anyway ?!?