Why your programmers just want to code

The man below says: "Yes. You are in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above this field. You are between 40 and 42 degrees N. latitude, and between 58 and 60 degrees W. longitude."

"You must be an engineer," says the balloonist.

"I am," replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost.

"The man below says, "You must be a manager."

"I am," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you are going. You have made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault."

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This is the sentiment that I see in the article.

It reads like someone who is not a software engineer criticizing software engineers because they don't do what he wants. Sure there is a reference to culture and that. But, ultimately, he wants software engineers to care about business and market issues over software issues. He sees the software engineer as an impediment to the problems he is trying to solve rather than someone who tries to contribute through his domain of expertise. This situation is not going to change by using the amateur psychology of not rejecting an engineers ideas when they are starting out. That is insulting and, frankly, the heart of the problem -- that he sees software engineers as children to be led rather than peers who you can collaborate with.

We could all just sit at home and write code all day. but without users there is no point.

The situation describe in the OP is a result of a poor management culture, which is why it's there.

I'm not 25 anymore so it was a big deal, moving my wife and kids (but it's on a Caribbean island, so they were not hard to convince).

I was asked to join because of my background in mathematics, my vision on resolving problems, and my programming skills.

Not bragging, I'm just a regular guy, but the person recruiting me was the co founder of my company, we know each other for 25 years. So he knows me well and know my skills. I was asked to join for bringing a new vision on some tricky points.

Small team, one leader.

Almost every time I proposed something new, it was dismissed, and sometimes with contempt.

Of course it's something they worked on for several years, and they tried a lot of solutions before I joined, so some of my idea were surely already tested and all.

But I ended up doing some UI on jquery (yeah, I know...) and became miserable as time passed.

Because, you know, before even be sure that the core was working, they wanted a fancy interface...

Ended bad. I finally quit after 18 months of doing the same stuff again and again, as the UI changed every time a new idea came up.

My point is I totally understand the point of the article. I came with a bag full of ideas and happiness on working on that. I ended doing shitty stuff and feeling uninterested and bored about programming shit all day.

So of course, some find it easier just to code away without having to deal with other humans.

Personally, I get bored to death on the projects where I happen to be a lone dev.