Observation of the Day

Today we were in a meeting with members of various groups within the business.  As we went around the room introducing ourselves and our roles I noticed that everyone outside of our group prepended some overly-wordy title to their name.  Everyone was a senior something or other.  When it got to the dev group, we all answered, essentially, code monkey.  No titles, no distinctions, no hierarchy.

I found it interesting that none of the coders made any distinctions among ourselves, while everyone else was self-aggrandizing.  What is it about the people who write software that would make them behave this way?  Is it because coders are all prima donnas who believe everyone should worship them anyway?  Is just saying the title software developer enough to conjure a heavenly light, a chorus of angels, and inspire awe in all basking in my stately presence, my countenance shining down upon them? 

Or, is it possibly that titles mean nothing to results-oriented people?  I could have business cards printed up proclaiming myself the Grand Wazoo, but that doesn’t mean anything.  I don’t think coders, in general, have much respect for authority in name only.  You’ll have to earn that respect by demonstrating that you know something or can do something. 

I know we’re not all easy to work with.  I’ve heard that coders have egos.  I’ve read the metaphor that managing developers is like trying to herd cats.  But, during my career I have had managers who ranged from useless, to incompetent, to actually being detrimental to getting things done.  Their expertise seemed to only be in corporate jargon and CYA.  Although, those people were essentially my boss, based on the title printed on their business cards, they never had my respect because they did nothing to earn it.

Titles are meaningless.  Skills, accomplishments, and results are important.