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> A lot of them are quite ignorant about engineering and scientific basics. Yes, they are, but you don't see a lot of MBAs sitting by a coder's desk and saying

> A lot of them are quite ignorant about engineering and scientific basics. Yes, they are, but you don't see a lot of MBAs sitting by a coder's desk and saying that they're choosing the wrong name for a function. [Edit: added quoted text]

denzil_correa 8y ago
> you don't see a lot of MBAs sitting by a coder's desk and saying that they're choosing the wrong name for a function So basically, you are implying that MBAs are aware of their boundaries but scientists and engineers aren't? I think a little of introspection might be in order here.
- ucaetano 8y ago
  Looks like you're taking this personally... > you are implying that MBAs are aware of their boundaries but scientists and engineers aren't? No, a lot of them just don't care about those subjects. But engineers clearly aren't aware of their boundaries. The running joke in my group of engineering classmates is "Because who really understands about [insert non-engineering subject here] is computer engineers...]". It isn't a coincidence that nobody else uses "I can't see why..." or "I don't understand why..." as an argument, as if the fact that you can't see or understand implied that it must not be true. Just take a look at the hacker news feed at any day...
  - alexgmcm 8y ago
    I think the general complaint is that MBA's have very little knowledge about the businesses they run. So an MBA might promise a new feature to a client without really knowing if it can be delivered in that timeframe or even if it is technically possible.
    - ucaetano 8y ago
      > I think the general complaint is that MBA's have very little knowledge about the businesses they run. Most managers don't have a lot of deep technical understanding of the products that are part of their business, even if they have a very good understanding of the business. Most engineers don't have a lot of understanding of the business their product is a part of, even if they have a deep technical understanding of the product. That's why you don't ask engineers for business decisions, or business managers for technical decisions. Role specialization exists for a reason. > So an MBA might promise a new feature to a client without really knowing if it can be delivered in that timeframe or even if it is technically possible. That doesn't have anything to do with MBA, or even the job. I've seen pretty much every single profession, from a cleaner, to a car mechanic, to a doctor, do exactly the same. Beyond that, if that is happening in your organization, it is a sign of bad managers, and bad processes.
bryondowd 8y ago
You do, however, see them tell the engineers they can't have product X they requested, because product Y is the same thing but about a half million bucks cheaper. Then the engineers have to add a year of extra development to make product Y actually work, costing about half a million in development salaries and who knows how much opportunity cost from delaying the project by a year. Then again, I shouldn't complain. People like that mean there's always lots of work available for people like me.

denzil_correa 8y ago

> you don't see a lot of MBAs sitting by a coder's desk and saying that they're choosing the wrong name for a function So basically, you are implying that MBAs are aware of their boundaries but scientists and engineers aren't? I think a little of introspection might be in order here.

ucaetano 8y ago
Looks like you're taking this personally... > you are implying that MBAs are aware of their boundaries but scientists and engineers aren't? No, a lot of them just don't care about those subjects. But engineers clearly aren't aware of their boundaries. The running joke in my group of engineering classmates is "Because who really understands about [insert non-engineering subject here] is computer engineers...]". It isn't a coincidence that nobody else uses "I can't see why..." or "I don't understand why..." as an argument, as if the fact that you can't see or understand implied that it must not be true. Just take a look at the hacker news feed at any day...
- alexgmcm 8y ago
  I think the general complaint is that MBA's have very little knowledge about the businesses they run. So an MBA might promise a new feature to a client without really knowing if it can be delivered in that timeframe or even if it is technically possible.
  - ucaetano 8y ago
    > I think the general complaint is that MBA's have very little knowledge about the businesses they run. Most managers don't have a lot of deep technical understanding of the products that are part of their business, even if they have a very good understanding of the business. Most engineers don't have a lot of understanding of the business their product is a part of, even if they have a deep technical understanding of the product. That's why you don't ask engineers for business decisions, or business managers for technical decisions. Role specialization exists for a reason. > So an MBA might promise a new feature to a client without really knowing if it can be delivered in that timeframe or even if it is technically possible. That doesn't have anything to do with MBA, or even the job. I've seen pretty much every single profession, from a cleaner, to a car mechanic, to a doctor, do exactly the same. Beyond that, if that is happening in your organization, it is a sign of bad managers, and bad processes.

bryondowd 8y ago

You do, however, see them tell the engineers they can't have product X they requested, because product Y is the same thing but about a half million bucks cheaper. Then the engineers have to add a year of extra development to make product Y actually work, costing about half a million in development salaries and who knows how much opportunity cost from delaying the project by a year. Then again, I shouldn't complain. People like that mean there's always lots of work available for people like me.