Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!tivoli!alan
From: alan@tivoli.UUCP (Alan R. Weiss)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Not engineers
Message-ID: <684@tivoli.UUCP>
Date: 19 Apr 91 14:38:59 GMT
References: <1991Apr17.144402.16637@sparky.IMD.Sterling.COM>
Reply-To: alan@tivoli.UUCP (Alan R. Weiss)
Organization: Tivoli Systems Inc., Austin, TX
Lines: 93

In article <1991Apr17.144402.16637@sparky.IMD.Sterling.COM> jim@sparky.IMD.Sterling.COM (Jim Nicholsen) writes:
>In an article referencing "Documenting OO Systems" Steve Savitzky wrote
>
>   "Perhaps we should start borrowing our terminology from the arts:
>   "producer" for the person who puts up the money and controls the
>    budget, "director" for the one with overall artistic control, 
>   "designer" for the one who creates the look and feel of the project,
>   and "writer" for the ones doing the programming and technical writing
>   (hopefully mostly the same people"
>
>This is the very idea I have begun to discuss (albeit unsuccessfully
>thus far :->) in my organization.  My idea came from Walt Disney who
>transfered the titles from the movie industry that he understood, to
>his "new" amusement park as it was built. His problem was to communicate
>his expectations to the staff, and he found that he couldn't achieve
>the level of communication he needed within the conventional amusement
>park titles. (The preceding from a management seminar I attended from
>the Walt Disney staff).


No no, this is actually a VERY good idea to explore, and in fact is
being attempted at two places (that I know of):  American Interactive
Media, and a firm up in Silicon Valley that, due to Non-disclosures,
I can't, well, disclose :-}

AIM does software for CD-I, the interactive version of CD laser tech.
sponsored by Sony, Polygram, and Philips.  Their software products
are mostly games and educational programs, and since their backing
is from the entertainment industry they naturally gravitated towards
what I call the Hollywood Model (c).  They have a Producer (the
Finance guy, usually), the Director (the Development or Project Manager),
the Writers (software developers), and the Artists/Graphics people
(which would, I suppose, correspond to GUI programmers and designers).

Where they fall flat on their face is in QA and Testing.  For testing,
they just hire a bunch of college kids to come and play with the games,
which is appealing from a budgetary and customer feedback perspective
is surely different from an engineering discipline.  In short, they
have no Continuity Director :-)


>"software engineer" was grabbed to add more prestige to those given the
>title. The debate on-going in the professional organizations concerning
>certification of those whoe wish to use the title has much more to do with
>perserving prestige as it does with "improving" the level of expertise.


In your humble opinion, no doubt.  IMHO, the term "software engineer"
was both a sign of hope (that programmers would live up to the term)
and an acknowledgement of the increasing complexity of interrelated
software components requiring more engineering skill sets.

>The problem, within firms whose product is software, is describing the
>job that each person is to do (from owner to person who looks after the
>building).  Within our organization there are 'operators', 'programmers'
>'system analysts', and 'managers'.  operators dream of being programmers,
>for programmers make more money, programmers dream of being system analysts
>for system analysts make more money. And, of course, system analysts can
>only move to management if they wish to improve their lot in life. The 
>preceding discriptions said nothing about the work that was performed, it
>simply described a pecking order based on salary.          


This is dull.  It also is most likely true for a LARGE percentage of
software development firms.  Haven't they ever heard of the dual
career ladder?  Of reward based upon % contribution?  Believe you me,
we have people here who would kill NOT to become a manager. 


>The arts terminology has much to offer in describing our organizations.

Yes, and I believe that the Hollywood Model should be pursued.
As Tom Peters has said, "try it, break it, fix, repeat."  Organizations`
should be free to experiment, SO LONG AS THEIR STAFFS ARE NOT
THREATENED AND YOU GET BUY-IN.

>Jim Nicholsen
>Sterling IMD Inc
>1404 Fort Crook Road South
>Bellevue NE  68005-2969
>
>voice   (402) 291-8300
>fax     (402) 291-4362
>email   jim@sparky.IMD.Sterling.COM
>

_______________________________________________________________________
Alan R. Weiss                           TIVOLI Systems, Inc.
E-mail: alan@tivoli.com                 6034 West Courtyard Drive,
E-mail: alan@whitney.tivoli.com	        Suite 210
Voice : (512) 794-9070                  Austin, Texas USA  78730
Fax   : (512) 794-0623   "Hell, I can barely speak for myself."
_______________________________________________________________________