

How Software Companies Die - gertjanzwartjes
http://www.zoion.com/~erlkonig/writings/programmer-beekeeping.html

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gdg92989
I can't count the number of articles like this that I have read. I reject the
idea that these old anti-social trolls are the only ones capable of sustaining
a company. That all young hungry people are bad and we noble veterans are
constantly getting the short end of the stick.

Furthermore the article is clearly biased and relies on purely anecdotal
evidence. Perhaps it's the authors inability to work with others and cope with
younger coworkers success which is the problem.

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gertjanzwartjes
The article is not about young vs old, or veterans vs beginners. It's about
trying to control a creative process; programming is (for a big part)
inventing new things, using existing components in a new way. Such creative
work cannot easily be planned and controlled the same way as building a
product on a production line for example. The tone might be a bit cynical, I
agree, and there's much written about it, though it's an interesting
perspective.

~~~
gdg92989
I agree that part of it is about trying to control a creative process but when
it breaks down the author totally wipes his hands clean of any responsibility.
Acting like "sabotaging the product" is an acceptable way to behave.

No, its the only way he could imagine someone behaving and its all the fault
of the "Lousy young programmer" and the "Marketing types" with their "power
neckties". The fact off the matter is that people who cannot adapt to change
in a company are a poison and the biggest mistake that management made, was
that they weren't able to replace him with more stable and mature (albeit
slightly less creative) professional sooner.

