Is it just me or does anyone else find the words geek and nerd to be simply offensive?
I find the word geek to be a compliment. Nerd sounds offensive though.
How To Manage Geeks
21–30 of 31 posts
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#22> The word geek in this article is not intended in a derogatory manner
Pretty sure this type of "C.Y.A." sentence qualifies as management-speak.
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#23I found the books by Tom DeMarco (who became famous for his novel "The Deadline") to be very insightful as well as instructive on that topic. In particular, his book "Slack" (2001) has a chapter "Managing Eve" where he describes how to manage exactly that kind of great employees we use to call "geeks". He doesn't mention the word "geek", though. Instead, he calls those people "Eve" ... for quite interesting reasons!
> He doesn't mention the word "geek", though. Instead, he calls those people "Eve" ... for quite interesting reasons!
You asshole, now I have to go out and buy the book :)
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#24Is it just me or does anyone else find the words geek and nerd to be simply offensive?
It's all a matter of context to me. "Without our geeks, we'd be out of business, so we give them fridays off" vs. "Hey geek, ever seen a breast that wasn't a jpeg?"
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#25How about don't refer to it as IT?
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#26Maybe it's time people stopped thinking of "geeks" as a homogenous, broadly categorizable group of people. IMO, that worldview is as much a part of the problem as anything else. I wouldn't assume a random set of 10 doctors are all going to have the same personalities, the same motivators, and the same quirks. I wouldn't assume 10 randomly grouped MBAs are identical, either. Perhaps non-technical managers would do wel…
I think some level of this is ok, just as long as one is clear about the difference between a generalization and a stereotype. IE, "Geeks tend to want X " isn't necessarily bad, but "Geeks always want X " is probably bad. I mean, it's somewhat naive to assume that there are absolutely no common threads between people of the same profession. The problem begins when you start treating these ideas as rigid rules: "Geeks…
"it's somewhat naive to assume that there are absolutely no common threads between people of the same profession"
Absolutely. There are certainly some commonalities among groups of people -- especially among groups of people who self-select into the same profession or skill set. And, as a geek, I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the stereotypes about people like me are at least grounded in some observable shade of reality.
But underneath my geek layer, I've also got a personality layer. And a motivations layer. And a background layer. Etc. I may share the same external, readily observable, surface-level traits as many of my peers. But that doesn't mean my peers and I are the same people.
Are there general principles that apply to managing geeks? Yes. Are there things that geeks, as a set, will pick up on or respond to more readily than other sets of people? Yes. But a good manager shouldn't stop there.
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#27Yes, assume they all fit a stereotype and treat them as such. What could possible go wrong with that?
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#28I like how this made it sound like geeks were not humans, but something completely different.
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#29I found the books by Tom DeMarco (who became famous for his novel "The Deadline") to be very insightful as well as instructive on that topic. In particular, his book "Slack" (2001) has a chapter "Managing Eve" where he describes how to manage exactly that kind of great employees we use to call "geeks". He doesn't mention the word "geek", though. Instead, he calls those people "Eve" ... for quite interesting reasons!
> He doesn't mention the word "geek", though. Instead, he calls those people "Eve" ... for quite interesting reasons! You asshole, now I have to go out and buy the book :)
Well, it's just the way he interprets the bible. He says that Eve was a courageous person. She ate from the tree of knowledge, thus breaking a rule that would otherwise have prevented her personal development.
But feel free to buy the book anyway. :-)
Re: How To Manage Geeks
#30Is it just me or does anyone else find the words geek and nerd to be simply offensive?
I hate the assumption that an entire industry of people follow a narrow derogatory stereotype.