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The most popular article Iâve written is called Why your programmer just wants to code. To date it has received over 62,000Â reads.
The article tells the story of Jamie, a programmer who joins a new company full of enthusiasm and ideas. Fast-forward a couple years, and Jamie is one of those programmers âwho just wants to code.â A programmer who doesnât contribute new ideas, doesnât offer new ways of doing things, and just wants to be left alone to write code.
Sadly, I received almost no response from managers or leaders about this story.
It appears some of you missed the point, so let me be blunt.
Tech managers, these situations are your fault.
You must accept responsibility for unmotivated programmers who âonly want to codeâ or who appear be concerned only with flashy, new tech.
As the leader, you are responsible for creating an environment where everyone can contribute to solving the problems at hand.
Instead it appears many programmers work in environments where they are treated like idiot savants; brilliant children capable only of coding.
Stop it. Seriously.
The massive response to this article should scare the hell out of you. The market is hot, giving them the power to resign and replace YOU with a better leader.
I get the sense that they are mad as hell, and arenât going to take it anymore.
Donât believe me? Read onâŠ
TL;DR
I wrote the article in hopes that leaders would recognize that programmers want to bring their whole brain to work, but too often the environment prevents them from doing so.
Instead, I received thousands of responses (claps, comments or message) from programmers who wish their managers paid attention. Who wish their culture welcomed, discussed and debated ideas.
Some of the comments which stood out areâŠ
âOmg preach! đđŒđđŒđđŒ This âidea/feedback neggingâ phenomenon is the deadliest innovation killer of all the land, and it hurts every department (not just a coder problem). ââI came in to the workforce guns blazing, ready to make a difference. Now, I struggle to suppress my true thoughts everyday and just deal with how things are⊠I REALLY hope leaders start figuring this out soon.ââI went through something similar, I even stopped working on my pet projects because coding at work was sucks and demanding, glad I just left them after 5 months!ââItâs sad that actually the coding culture in my current environment is that programmers are merely interested in finishing a task instead of thinking of sharing ideas.â
Hasen takes a slightly different view.
âWhat we need is not âacceptanceâ of ideas. We need to see our ideas discussed and debated, and then see that the decision is based on the merit of the idea, not our position.If I present an idea and it gets discussed and then dismissed, thatâs ok.If I present an idea and just get told that I should not do that and just focus on my current assignment, well then that is a clear signal that Iâm not allowed to do anything but comply with orders like a grunt.When that happens Iâll basically be looking for the next job.â
That last one sums it up. Create an environment where your programmers can fully contribute, or else the best ones will leave.
Tech leaders, youâve got work to do. Youâd better start pulling all-nighters to fix things, before itâs too late.
A Wake-Up Call For Tech Managers was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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