Eric, I agree, that's a good point about it n...

2010-02-20T18:26:35.342Z

Eric,

I agree, that's a good point about it not just being the company, but also the team.

As you say, "it's been proven a number of times that following a simple childlike engineering dream... can have the fortunate byproduct of being hugely profitable."

That sounds a lot like basic research.

And it makes me wonder, especially with your mention of Microsoft Research above, if the right place to be right now, at least if you're going to a large company, is in the R&D team, if there is one.

And only if you're really lucky to make it to an innovative place like Google, that thinks all software developers should get some of their own R&D time, or maybe in a smaller company, is the "right place to be" likely to be on a "normal" team.

My favorite technology companies are the ones led ...

2010-02-17T23:59:18.755Z

My favorite technology companies are the ones led by engineers, like Google or early Hewlett Packard. Most of the time, though, the environment you describe may be in an isolated division even though it isn't prevalent throughout the company - like with Microsoft Research.

So it's not just about finding the right company, it's also about finding the right division and the right team.

I personally believe that at technology companies, business executives should work for engineers - not the other way around.

I think it's been proven a number of times that following a simple childlike engineering dream such as "let's make the very best product" or "let's try to seamlessly connect everyone in the world" can have the fortunate byproduct of being hugely profitable. When your goal is as near-sighted as "let's just make a stockpile of cash" you'll probably find that your financial performance and your employee morale will be lackluster. I really believe that business executives should rally behind an engineering goal, instead of engineers trying to push a financial goal.

Let's say you're an olympic sponsor for the winter games. Is it wise to take up the grand majority of an athlete's training time to make them do commercials for you for small short term gains? Or is it smarter to go for the gold medal which comes with even more money, higher morale, a sense of accomplishment, and an actual legacy?

Technology business executives need to learn how to sponsor, in my opinion. There's so much to gain, so little to lose. And what they have now isn't sustainable without growth anyway, and you can't grow a technology company by ignoring the fact that you're a technology company.

Comments on programmer.grrl: Software-Development Career Paths: Organizational ...

Eric, I agree, that's a good point about it n...

My favorite technology companies are the ones led ...