

Developers, you are the last line of defense - nathanh
http://blog.nahurst.com/developers-you-are-the-last-line-of-defense

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dolinsky
I understand the sentiment trying to be conveyed here, and I do agree that by
speaking up a developer can help prevent a bad feature from being released
while learning more about their product offering. However in the type of
company described, where the 'natural set of responsibilities' places the
developers as merely implementers of the vision created by the managment and
product teams, the developers are not in a position of power at all and cannot
be held responsible if a poor feature makes it to production.

Only in a company where developers ARE the product team and are a part of the
decision making process can they trully be considered the last line of
defense. In the scenario painted in the OP, the developer has not been
empowered to play defense, and if they do so by not coding the feature they
risk becoming unemployed.

I don't think you'll find a soul here that wouldn't sympathize with a
developer in that position, and I definitely would not want to be placed in
that kind of a situation, but it does exist and is quite the norm outside of
the startup world.

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absconditus
"One of the main reasons all of development isn't outsourced is that it's hard
to replace an in-house developer's personal investment in the business,
cultural understanding, and market understanding. Additionally, communication
is typically orders of magnitude more efficient."

That is exactly why many development jobs should be outsourced. Many
developers understand little beyond writing code.

~~~
stcredzero
Shops that operate like this, get exactly the code they deserve.

------
stcredzero
(And please excuse us if we sometimes punish you for trying to defend us.)

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ignifero
I always smile when someone tries to simulate people flow diagrams. I like the
underlying notion that developers are more insightful than everyone else, but
I think it is "everyone's fault" if the product turns out bad.

~~~
pjscott
If it's everyone's fault, then it often doesn't feel like anyone's fault.
Diffusion of responsibility is a dangerous thing, and insidious.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility>

If a product turns out bad, it is the fault of _each_ person who could have
prevented that, but didn't. This is splitting hairs, but I think this is a
psychologically important hair to split. Conversely, if you do your part
properly, that's something to be personally proud of no matter what the
outcome.

