Monday, June 8, 2009

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When did we lose it ?
Once thought to be a bastion of forward thinking.
Places where ideas were born and the future of the world was decided. Places in which pony tailed guys showed up in jeans and ideated.
Technology was the king and profit was somebody else's problem.
Engineers were the most important asset of an "IT" company and were suitably valued as such.
People who attempted to introduce unnecessary bureaucracy and related processes were routinely taken to a back room and kicked around a bit.
People were proud of their creations. These places had a character, and most of the time a face
too.
And then somewhere along the way... the plot was lost.
Most companies are now run not by people who loved it and are passionate about creating stuff, but by corporations who are in it for the money.
Every morning (or afternoon, or evening) I am bundled into a bus and herded to some large faceless company along with a few thousand others. Punch in , do my stuff according to the established "processes" and when my 9 hours are up, punch out and head with the herd back home. Exactly like an assembly line worker.
Ideating ? You got to be kidding...There is no column in my timesheet where I can put this
against.
Independent thinking? Who needs thinking when you got rules and processes ?
Coding and trying out stuff? I will be shot for SOx violations.
In the list of one thousand of the most important things in an IT company, I, as a software
engineer, come in at around number 758, right below door knobs and just above chair handles. I would have droned on.. but my body and brain refuses to co operate with my will at 4 am in the day , in office.

Do companies like the ones above still exist ?
Heck, do sections in my company exist which function like the above ?

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