The Intellectual Labourer
Ah, a new term to describe an anti-pattern I've observed: The Intellectual Labourer
A labourer is someone who is paid to do a some-what menial task and is not expected to ask why. It bears a striking resemblance to certain information technology jobs in my opinion. Specifically, working on a code base that has so much technical debt that one begins not to notice the debt. Or maybe being part of a business process that is just too complex to understand let alone improve.
Unlike normal labouring these jobs required a high degree of intellectual ability. Such as a deep familiarity with the rabbit-warren of a code base. Kind of like being strong enough to pick strawberries all day.
Perhaps the most disturbing similarity is there is no future in it. Eventually one gets too old to lift those roof tiles. Or, the software may be decommissioned or the company is dissolved / bought out. The professional skills one might have had are now wasted away. Sacrificed on the alter of pragmatism where professional opinion is more like an obstacle and the business needs you to just do it.
Is it bad? I guess we don't live forever so there's no point in setting ourselves up for perpetual sustainability. I'd like to think I was doing it for a reason. Something worth the career risk and professional discomfort. And hopefully it would only be temporary.
A labourer is someone who is paid to do a some-what menial task and is not expected to ask why. It bears a striking resemblance to certain information technology jobs in my opinion. Specifically, working on a code base that has so much technical debt that one begins not to notice the debt. Or maybe being part of a business process that is just too complex to understand let alone improve.
Unlike normal labouring these jobs required a high degree of intellectual ability. Such as a deep familiarity with the rabbit-warren of a code base. Kind of like being strong enough to pick strawberries all day.
Perhaps the most disturbing similarity is there is no future in it. Eventually one gets too old to lift those roof tiles. Or, the software may be decommissioned or the company is dissolved / bought out. The professional skills one might have had are now wasted away. Sacrificed on the alter of pragmatism where professional opinion is more like an obstacle and the business needs you to just do it.
Is it bad? I guess we don't live forever so there's no point in setting ourselves up for perpetual sustainability. I'd like to think I was doing it for a reason. Something worth the career risk and professional discomfort. And hopefully it would only be temporary.
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