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Saturday, September 11, 2004 Value-Added-Clown (VAC) A recent IM conversation (names changed to protect the innocent) ---------------- BILL says: I have a couple of developers working for me and I'm not terribly impressed with their abilities thus far. BILL says: I'm working for XYZ Finance Company Jeff Schneider says: *use opportunity to learn more about Finance software* BILL says: they were wanting to use SWT as their UI technology Jeff Schneider says: screw SWT and UI BILL says: is there something to gain from learning about finance software? Jeff Schneider says: learn finance domain BILL says: SWT blows BILL says: what is the advantage that I should be looking at with Finance domain? Jeff Schneider says: Business domain is more important than changing technology BILL says: yeah, I'm figuring that out BILL says: from a manager's POV, how should I approach my manager to tell him I don't think my developers are cutting it (if I perceive that) Jeff Schneider says: value is a function of cost over output Jeff Schneider says: make sure you know what the cost are before determining value Jeff Schneider says: (you see output) BILL says: you mean cost of bringing in new developers and getting them up to speed? Jeff Schneider says: if he's paying $4/hour for current people than you may be giving him bad advice BILL says: true Jeff Schneider says: don't advise until you know costs BILL says: aha BILL says: since I don't know their rates, I can't make that call then BILL says: right? Jeff Schneider says: yep - but feel free to ask BILL says: is that something they call tell me? Jeff Schneider says: sure Jeff Schneider says: you should also ask the manager if he/she wants your input on such items BILL says: what other info should factor into that decision? Jeff Schneider says: (output, quality, etc) BILL says: it has been relayed to me that I should advise on such matters so I assume that is a responsibility for me BILL says: but I should assume nothing Jeff Schneider says: if mgr doesn't want to tell then tell him what the perceived bill rate of person is "I'm guessing that your paying about $35/hr for Balu - - which seems appropriate..." BILL says: ok BILL says: you tell me if this would be a warning sign to you BILL says: I asked one to write a Java2D demo (as a replacement for a flash module) that was a simple graph that when values were changed, the graph adjusted) BILL says: he proceeded to download sample code from Sun and paste it and tried to modify it (this was after he told me he felt very comfy with Java2D) BILL says: would that be a red flag? Jeff Schneider says: maybe - but not necessarily... BILL says: what would your thoughts be? Jeff Schneider says: 1. I'd assume person lied about expertise in the technology (people always do) BILL says: oh yeah, I had to help him get a demo going cuz he couldn't figure out his compiler error (tried to instantiate an anon inner class from a main) Jeff Schneider says: 2. I'd be more concerned about ability to get up to speed and then get dedicated to knocking it out BILL says: yeah, I've already figured out that they lied Jeff Schneider says: 3. Then concerned about willingness to refactor until the design was correct (on his own dollar) BILL says: would you say micromanagement is going to be my best bet at getting this delivered as it should be? Jeff Schneider says: no, but tight iterations would be advised BILL says: yeah, weekly code reviews a good thing? BILL says: I'm already drawing up a standards doc as a guide Jeff Schneider says: sure, lots of builds, demos with mgmt, etc Jeff Schneider says: Visibility = "Putting glass box around large turd." BILL says: hehe BILL says: kewl Jeff Schneider says: your first duty is to make them succeed though BILL says: right Jeff Schneider says: more times than not, you'll end up with Bozo's on your team. Great engineers are ones that can turn clowns into productive team members BILL says: guess that would be a good test of my ability ? BILL says: hehe BILL says: how yucky Jeff Schneider says: yep - but that's what separates the pack Jeff Schneider says: give mgmt visibility while backing clowns ----------------- So, I really believe the advice that I gave to *Bill*. Any jack ass can throw another incompetent engineer under the car. The manager should have visibility into *suspect* engineers, but until a *suspect* is proven guilty, it is the job of the more senior engineer to make the rest of the team succeed. posted by jeff | 4:22 PM Sunday, September 05, 2004 The Mob Effect on the CEO I've been witness to a recent phenomenon. I don't know what to call it, but I'll attempt to describe it to you. Software companies have been hiring huge teams (Mobs) of programmers in India and other low cost labor supply areas. The purpose for these hires is to 'create more software, faster'. When the CEO goes to see the Mob they get excited. They see dozens of cheap bodies lined up and ready to work on whatever brilliant idea is floating in the heads of the executive team. They become drunk on this new, cheap power. They get 'beer muscles'. At the sight of all of these cheap bodies they feel like they have their own little army and can take on the world (or at least a larger competitor). And this is where it begins. Mob Mania has struck more CEO's than I can count. With their new perceived power they begin to do the unthinkable. They build products in spaces where they know very little. They create a 'portfolio of checkmarks'; that is, they build products purely for the sake of rounding out a portfolio and checking off products. Checkmark Portfolios are never about having the best product - they are about having all products. It is almost an acknowledgment that the executive team was too stupid or lazy to do their homework and determine which products really needed to be built and which should have been OEM'd or left out of the portfolio all together. Checkmark Portfolios lead to an interesting destination. Buyers see dozens of vendors all claiming to have the exact same set of products. They look under the covers and find that the products were designed with minimal depth while maximizing breadth. The amazing similarity of the products being offered by direct competitors leads to a new buying process. Now, the focus is moving off of: 1. Having the product or 2. Having the rounded portfolio and since the product was built at dirt cheap prices, the focus usually isn't on the price. The focus is on 'trust'. Said another way, the focus is on brand. Like all products that are easily commoditizable, the focus moves off of product differentiation and to brand awareness and brand identity. However, it is an interesting time to create brands. With the low investment model required to create a Mob, more and more small companies are sprouting up determined to get a piece of the action (many of these companies are now based in Europe or South East Asia). The room of vendors is crowded and everyone is yelling for attention. The CEO sees this and thinks two things: 1. "It's going to cost some serious money to get my message above the noise level." 2. "Oh shit, what an awful time to have a commoditized product." Life has taught me that heard mentality pays for the few. I've seen it over and over again. I watched the VC's pull a heard model and now I watch another. The leaders of the heard will win. The followers will be left in the dust. Second and third tier ISV's will be crushed in a battle whose outcome is so obvious that it is almost uninteresting. posted by jeff | 6:16 AM |
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