| There definitely is a schism, and I think it's largely down to different mind sets. Business people, have to be people people. They have to be able to manipulate emotions and be persuasive. Whereas programmers tend to be more absolute, more black and white. We haven't evolved our skill sets to include persuasiveness or the businessman like people abilities, simply because we haven't had to. Both types have adapted to their own environments, and they're entirely different environments. I think a big part of the problem with programmers and business types is both parties not understanding each other psychologically. Programmers are strange creatures, often stubborn, highly intelligent, don't like being told what to do. Project managers however are highly motivated, hard-working and like to push things forward. But you have to know how to speak to programmers, we're good at figuring out the 'how's' but we also need to know the clear 'why's'. They need to make the case to us instead of just telling us what to do, we like to feel in control. But they often give orders and we get defensive. In summary, programmers need to understand that project managers and business people are just trying to push things forward, it's their job to try to get things done (let's face it, a lot of us would be sat on here all day without them). But business people need to understand what they need and be able to explain it properly to us without giving us direct orders. |