January 25, 2021 at 12:00 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Are You Empowered?
January 25, 2021 at 4:09 pm
In my previous job I felt more empowered. However, that was due in large part to the fact that I was working for a small group in the university, under contract to the city. And that group was off the university campus. The work we were doing had nothing to do with the university, so we didn't need their oversight, except for networking. I wonder what it was like for developers and IT operations who did work for the university, on campus?
Where I'm working now, I'd say people don't feel empowered. There are two reasons for this that I see. First is the need to have everyone "stay in their own lane". I'm a developer, but I have experience as a DBA since I had to function in that role at my previous job. If I see something that could be improved in a database, I must keep it to myself. I can't talk to the DBAs about anything like that. My "lane" is developing applications, therefore I'm somehow incapable for recommending something to a DBA. It cuts the same way with a DBA, they can't tell me anything that would improve my coding.
The second one gets to the most important ideal discussed in the book, The Unicorn Project, psychological safety. I don't want to imply that my work doesn't tolerate anything its employees say or threaten with a Stalin like dictatorship. Far from it. I see psychological safety as a spectrum. At one extreme you have the dictators who won't listen to anything their underlings say and likely get rid of anyone for making the smallest suggestion of improvement. At the other extreme is the type of leadership that isn't leadership at all, where the underlings are running the show and the leaders are just afraid to lead. We're somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the type that has its own ideas as to how things are to work and often unwilling to consider other options. (Not totally unwilling, just often unwilling.) So, I guess, Steve, that where I work is much like many places.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
January 25, 2021 at 6:16 pm
Rod,
I think both of those are the reasons that 70+% of people don't feel empowered.
January 25, 2021 at 7:43 pm
Where I'm working now, I'd say people don't feel empowered. There are two reasons for this that I see. First is the need to have everyone "stay in their own lane". I'm a developer, but I have experience as a DBA since I had to function in that role at my previous job. If I see something that could be improved in a database, I must keep it to myself. I can't talk to the DBAs about anything like that. My "lane" is developing applications, therefore I'm somehow incapable for recommending something to a DBA. It cuts the same way with a DBA, they can't tell me anything that would improve my coding.
Rod, curious about this. Is it a sort of "unwritten rule" in the culture, or is actually spelled out? Either way, I can't help thinking there are many missed opportunities there.
Trying to figure out the world of SQL as marketing consultant for SQL Solutions Group https://sqlsolutionsgroup.com/
January 26, 2021 at 1:11 am
Hi @JRuss, I'm responding from my home account. The earlier one was from my work account.
The "stay in your own lane" mentality is an unwritten rule. It's a sense I get from what I've observed. I've already given you an example of my not being able to suggest something to DBAs and vice versa. Another example is meeting with customers (all internal, in my case) to learn what it is they want done, how some old application works, how they'd like a new one to work, etc. When I first joined my current employer, all developers weren't allowed to meet with the customers. Instead that activity was done exclusively by people in our Project Management Office, normally Business Analysts (BA), whereas developers and DBAs were relegated to stay in their office/cubicles (this is all pre-pandemic). Developers were expected to bang code, DBAs to write SQL scripts, do database administration, etc. Then once the BAs had finished meeting with the customer as often as needed, written up the specifications and other documents, then DBAs and devs would get the specs and docs and start doing their work. Everybody does what their job title is and don't interfere with others with a different job title.
In fairness, that has begun to change. About two years ago devs and DBAs were invited to participate in some meetings with the customer, normally early in the project planning process. So, in this regard some progress has been made. But still, there's a stay in your own lane mentality. The BAs do the database design, which I think is a shame. One of the senior DBAs told me that he had taken some advanced database design classes, but it's all for naught, as he can't use that training. The BA designs the database, then hands it off to the DBA to implement. If that DBA finds something egregious in the database design, he can bring it to the BA, argue his point with the BA and I hope it gets implemented. But it's the BA's job, because it's related to writing up the spec and documents, which BAs do, and DBAs and devs don't.
Rod
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