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Do programmers/engineers have an inferiority complex vs. Management/MBA types? I don't see many articles on HN bashing sales professions advising youngsters not

Do programmers/engineers have an inferiority complex vs. Management/MBA types? I don't see many articles on HN bashing sales professions advising youngsters not to go to trade school . . .

iamwil 17y ago
Probably not. There have just been lots of bad MBAs in the last couple years that make clueless business decisions, and we've probably suffered under the hands of one at one time or another. Like asking to measure productivity in the number of lines of code. Sure, it might seem like it makes sense, but it'll soon be apparent it doesn't if you've tried to code at all, even just a little bit. Having a business sense is great. But when you get MBAs that think that's all there is, it makes for bad business decisions that engineers have suffered under. Having some grasp of the actual nature of the business that you're in will go a long way.
- billswift 17y ago
  I voted you up, but you made one mistake; it should have "MBAs in the last couple of decades that made clueless business decisions". I have been reading almost identical complaints about the lack of real value in the MBA since the early 1990s.
  - iamwil 17y ago
    Thanks, but I haven't lived long enough to see MBAs in the 90's. I've only started working in the 2000's. I've heard that was the case, but I never looked into what happened in the 90's. Thanks for the heads up.
jdietrich 17y ago
I think a lot of us just fail to see how much value actually gets created by "MBA types". When you're used to seeing really small companies make really big exits, the corporate world can start to seem like so much paper shuffling. If you're a smart, ambitious twentysomething, there are two obvious routes. You can get an MBA, work your way up the ladder via a series of safe but stressful jobs and maybe become a VP by the time you're forty. Or you can study engineering, found a startup with a friend, have a whale of a time and have a decent shot at becoming financially independent within a couple of years. If you're young and have nothing much to lose, it seems like a no-brainer to me.
arijo 17y ago
I would say it's more like an intelectual superiority complex :)

Do programmers/engineers have an inferiority complex vs. Management/MBA types? I don't see many articles on HN bashing sales professions advising youngsters not to go to trade school . . .

iamwil 17y ago

Probably not. There have just been lots of bad MBAs in the last couple years that make clueless business decisions, and we've probably suffered under the hands of one at one time or another. Like asking to measure productivity in the number of lines of code. Sure, it might seem like it makes sense, but it'll soon be apparent it doesn't if you've tried to code at all, even just a little bit. Having a business sense is great. But when you get MBAs that think that's all there is, it makes for bad business decisions that engineers have suffered under. Having some grasp of the actual nature of the business that you're in will go a long way.

billswift 17y ago
I voted you up, but you made one mistake; it should have "MBAs in the last couple of decades that made clueless business decisions". I have been reading almost identical complaints about the lack of real value in the MBA since the early 1990s.
- iamwil 17y ago
  Thanks, but I haven't lived long enough to see MBAs in the 90's. I've only started working in the 2000's. I've heard that was the case, but I never looked into what happened in the 90's. Thanks for the heads up.

jdietrich 17y ago

I think a lot of us just fail to see how much value actually gets created by "MBA types". When you're used to seeing really small companies make really big exits, the corporate world can start to seem like so much paper shuffling. If you're a smart, ambitious twentysomething, there are two obvious routes. You can get an MBA, work your way up the ladder via a series of safe but stressful jobs and maybe become a VP by the time you're forty. Or you can study engineering, found a startup with a friend, have a whale of a time and have a decent shot at becoming financially independent within a couple of years. If you're young and have nothing much to lose, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

arijo 17y ago

I would say it's more like an intelectual superiority complex :)