4 ms·

> The original archetype was a completely overblown caricature (based on some outliers) and wasn't true mostly. I disagree. As someone with a CS degree, this w

> The original archetype was a completely overblown caricature (based on some outliers) and wasn't true mostly. I disagree. As someone with a CS degree, this was and is a stereotype for a reason. > so that "Engineers" can be kept out of "Business Decision-Making" and thus Controlled/Managed easily. This sounds almost like a conspiracy theory, how have the "industry" come to this conclusion together exactly?

rramadass 3y ago
> I disagree. As someone with a CS degree, this was and is a stereotype for a reason. Absolutely false! This is a canard which has been spread and repeated again and again so often that people are not challenging it but accepting it on face value. I have worked across a lot of companies across two countries and never have i encountered somebody with so bad social/communication skills etc. that you could not interact with them. People are spread across a spectrum and in many cases they choose not to socialize due to "learned helplessness" from past experiences. One you understand and empathize with their pov they almost always open up and are very communicative. You should also understand that "stereotypes" are very insidious and hence one needs to be careful in interpreting them. For example, here is the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her TED talk The Danger of the Single Story - https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_dange... “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, but they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” > This sounds almost like a conspiracy theory, how have the "industry" come to this conclusion together exactly? Simple "Organizational Politics". If i want to grow my power/fiefdom/etc. i need to keep decision-making to myself and given that Engineers are busy with Engineering it is easy to take it away from them. Makeup and sell the stereotype given above and you have the status-quo. Here is a relevant article by Gary Hamel from HBR which presents an alternative; First, Let’s Fire All the Managers - https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-managers https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-managers. Your might also want to look at the resources mentioned in my comment here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39086359 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39086359

rramadass 3y ago

> I disagree. As someone with a CS degree, this was and is a stereotype for a reason. Absolutely false! This is a canard which has been spread and repeated again and again so often that people are not challenging it but accepting it on face value. I have worked across a lot of companies across two countries and never have i encountered somebody with so bad social/communication skills etc. that you could not interact with them. People are spread across a spectrum and in many cases they choose not to socialize due to "learned helplessness" from past experiences. One you understand and empathize with their pov they almost always open up and are very communicative. You should also understand that "stereotypes" are very insidious and hence one needs to be careful in interpreting them. For example, here is the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her TED talk The Danger of the Single Story - https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_dange... “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, but they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” > This sounds almost like a conspiracy theory, how have the "industry" come to this conclusion together exactly? Simple "Organizational Politics". If i want to grow my power/fiefdom/etc. i need to keep decision-making to myself and given that Engineers are busy with Engineering it is easy to take it away from them. Makeup and sell the stereotype given above and you have the status-quo. Here is a relevant article by Gary Hamel from HBR which presents an alternative; First, Let’s Fire All the Managers - https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-managers https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-managers. Your might also want to look at the resources mentioned in my comment here - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39086359 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39086359