[dkarl]

Imagine if everybody in every software company was an "engineer," including the executives, salespeople, and market researchers. Imagine if they only ever hired people trained as software engineers, and only hired them into software development roles, and staffed every other position in the company from engineering hires who had skill and interest at performing other roles. That's how medical practices, law firms, and some other professions work.

For example -- my wife is an architect, so I'm aware of specific examples here -- there are many architecture firms that have partners whose role consists of bringing in big clients and managing relationships with them. They are never called "sales executives" or "client relationship management specialists." If you meet one at a party, they'll tell you they're an architect.

Apparently it's the same thing with scientific research. When a lab gets big enough, people start to specialize, but they don't get different titles. If you work at an arts nonprofit writing grant applications, they will call you a grant writer, but a scientist is always a scientist or a "researcher" even if all they do is write grant applications.

[boxed]

And Boeing was like that. Before the merged with McDonald Douglas. Before the MAX disaster. Before the failed Starliner.