Consumer or Contributor?

Originally written in March 2018 but never published as I never left....... Now that I have it felt right to post it...

Are you Contributor or Consumer?

I have today finished working for my current company in NZ.  I have dozens of reasons why I chose to leave so I will only put out a few.

• I wanted a new challenge.
• My career was going backwards due to numerous structural changes and then outsourcing.
• Same old approach, same old processes that were as sacrosanct as a religious text with no hope of change.
• I realise that there is so much more (good tech) out there than the bubble we’d been enshrined in and due to our skills rarity.
• Promotions were literally waiting for incumbents in the senior roles to die or retire (Lessened with outsource)
• Desire to chase my own dreams.....while I still can.

Another Issue

Sadly, another issue was that I realised I had become surrounded by more consumers than contributors.  This can be true for many teams and companies and is not unique to the team above. 

In my years back in the business it became obvious that many of the developers were consuming my knowledge (I like sharing), but, at the same time, some were opposed to sharing theirs.  There were a few good eggs though and you know who you are :-)

Which type are you?

There are two types of developers in this world. Those that ‘learn/implement/teach and share’.  And then there are those that learn solely to strengthen their individual position, or in this case (at this firm), their collective position.  Some go as far as making areas of expertise for themselves in a vain attempt to make themselves indispensable, not realising that this selfishness was actually harming the growth of the business and stalled their own career.

I've known of developers with 25+ years’ experience in the tools that had never even posted a blog or a forum answer on 2E or Plex.  Their interest in the tools (and tech) was only deep enough to grow their individual product (business) knowledge.  They’d never given back to the wider community, they had only even dined at the free buffet of knowledge.

I had questions in my mind......

• Who are these people?   
• Why was I wasting my time trying to help change this culture? 
• Perhaps it doesn’t need changing?
• Perhaps the problem is me!

In life we choose our friends and they choose us.  With school and work especially, we are often forced together....

Personal Impact

I had let myself get so despondent about this scenario that I know that even if I went for another job right now, my frustration would be etched across my face and it would do me little good.  I place no blame at the feet of the outsource provider through which I was working via....The damage was already done before that deal was struck.

What Next?

I’m not driven by money, power or job title (so many managers have failed to understand this part of my personality) and suffice to say, I will have many options so I am looking forward to finding my happy place.

Now is the time to take a break, recharge my physical and mental batteries and then look for a future challenge or focus full time on my dreams…..

My biggest takeout is, if you have tried your best to improve the environment around you but see no signs of it improving, walk away.  Some places/teams/processes are just broken, channel the energy somewhere that warrants your investment/time... including you.


Look after yourself and live your dreams.....One life.....

Thanks for reading.
Lee.

p.s. When I got home and told the trouble and strife (wife) that I have resigned.  She said it's the first time she had seen me smiling for a while...... I reckon I made the right call, just in time.

p.p.s. If you find that you are a non-selfish consumer.  i.e. someone who is absorbing the knowledge at present but don't have a forum to pass on your knowledge, that is fine.  Just remember to not become one of the selfish hoarders when your time comes to share your knowledge...

The magic roundabout....

“Computer Associates (CA), where products go to die!”

If you were around in the late 90’s and early noughties, the statement above was industry standard and after a brief rename to the COOL range from Sterling Software prior to the CA acquisition in 2000 the tools known as Synon (now CA 2E) and Obsydian/Plex (now CA Plex) have been maintained and supported by CA.

Correction from above…. CA did in fact (the early years) innovate with the tools quite frequently and with good features and enhancements.  CA were responsible for the introduction of the Web Option, Triggers, RPGILE Generator, numerous SQL’s updates and Web Services for 2E as well as .NET Generator for CA Plex (no small feat), Web Services publication and consumption as well as keeping up with a myriad of technology platform refreshes Plex required. 

All in all, a reasonable job. 

Perhaps a 6 out of 10.

Okay, 5.

The point being that these products didn’t go to CA to die. However, in recent years with development budgets reduced and key personnel leaving the rate of change has stalled significantly.  So much so that nowadays a release highlight are items that would have been reserved for minor features or even bug fixes in years gone by.

Whilst the tools haven’t died they are clearly in maintenance mode.  CA moved this group of products to sustaining engineering.  This has a negative context whilst a product is in decline and I feel that other low-code options with better target platforms coverage have emerged into a space once dominated by case and code generation tooling.

Last week Broadcom announced a cash buyout of CA Technologies for over 18b dollars.

Broadcom doesn’t do software…they are a semiconductor business so what does CA provide them:-

1. They may be diversifying their offerings and product range.  Perhaps there are some key products in the CA range that assist in their growth or CA has strong alliances with certain business verticals or a client base the parent organisation may wish to gain access to.
2. Or this is purely a financial decision.  They may have too much cash to burn and need to spend it quickly.  They buy a solid company with a long and attractive maintenance trailing revenue stream and secure long term (almost guaranteed) recurring revenue.  Most likely this means they won’t need to pay any corporation tax for the next year or two as they assimilate this monster of a business.

Perhaps a mix of both but my money is on the second option and that this is merely a financially driven strategic purchase.  

There certainly isn’t any institutional importance for the CA development tools business i.e. CA 2E, CA Plex and CA Gen.  Although these areas are likely to show very high ROI i.e. cost vs revenue on the reporting charts I very much doubt they’ll get anymore focus than they there are currently getting.

Now it would appear, that the final resting place for these (once wonderful and genius) tools is going to be Broadcom.  The new statement being “Broadcom, a place where CA Technologies development tools go to die!”

STOP THE PRESS!!!!!!!

Hopefully not, I hope that the residual value and with opportunities in a safe pair of hands i.e. a company with a low code focus. It is possible to recapture the essence of CASE and reinvigorate these tools.

Probability?: < 10% if Broadcom don’t want to relinquish these tools.

Lee’s take out!

Sadly, it’s probably time to work out what the next big thing is… These tools are now compliance/maintenance focused (at best) and will be stabilised (cease to be supported) as soon as the revenue trail drops below x, whatever x is.  

x for CA or Broadcom is far higher than x for a passionate low-code only vendor.  I beg Broadcom to review the business units at CA and seek a buyer (at a fair price) so this technology has a chance to thrive once more.  These tools practically invented low-code.  In my eyes they are 20 years ahead of the rest.

Thanks for reading.

p.s. I wonder what theynew name will be....Broadcom Plex doesn't have that good a ring to it.....

Is honesty always the best policy?

At various times in my life I have had this dilemma and I am sure many of you reading this have too.

I have always believed that honesty is the best policy.

Why?

This was drummed into me as a child. You would all remember being younger and hearing one of your parents or elders in your family/whanau say, “Just tell the truth, you won’t get into trouble as long as you tell me what happened.”, “Nobody likes liars.”, “You must be honest otherwise the truth will come out one day and come back and bite you on the bottom.”.

In various articles in this blog I have made reference to my experiences in general and I have been 100% honest in delivering balanced articles. IMHO.

Just recently I found myself in a situation where I was beginning to doubt my values/beliefs in this area. This was quite upsetting and worrying after 38 years of preaching and living by the aforementioned ideals.

So here are a few examples of where we all probably choose to ignore this policy.

Consider your answers to these questions.

“Honey, does my bum look big in this dress?”
“Who farted?”
“Do you love me?”

After looking at a baby picture “Isn’t he/she a stunner?”

Or, have you ever heard yourself saying that “The cheque is in the post” knowing full well that the cheque hasn’t even been written, let alone cashable.

Actually I have thought of a few extra ones but I will leave those to your imagination…………

So back to that dilemma. I truthfully explained why I was resigning from the company that I worked for at the time. I explained the major reason quite clearly and to be fair there were a few more including my desire for a fresh challenge so I could rediscover that "Woo factor!".

But.

The truth however, backfired I guess. Why.....

I was ignored for the remainder of my notice period and I struggled to provide the business with a true handover that it deserved. I guess as with all leavers my name will be mentioned for the things that go wrong. That is until the next person leaves. Actually i found out today that it was mud for some implementation tha I was working on. Despite my willingness to ensure it was completed.........

In summary, I believe that on this occasion it was because the truth hurts and sometimes you find yourself trying to be open and honest but if the listener doesn’t like it, they don't hear it.

I guess this has taught me that there is no judging reactions.

So I guess it all depends on the context that the honesty was received.

In my case, I believe on reflection that the combination of honesty (on my part), truth hurts (receivers reaction), arrogance and politics (receivers modus operandi and expertise), I may have chosen the wrong option, or did I?

I doubt this situation will happen again, but if I find myself in this situation in the next 25 years of my working life. I will then have a real dilemma.

Do I stick to the values that I was brought up with?

or,

• stoop to the lowest common denominator and play dead like so many others do and stagnate in their jobs.
• Add/have no opinion or worth to an organisation.
• Destroy that drive and energy within me.

I don’t know the answer to this question at this stage but it will either be:-

I’ll just say nothing, stay patient and look forward to the time when karma resolves my issue for me.

Or.

Tell it as it is and hope for a more professional response and keep one of my core personal life values in place.

What would you choose? I'm leaning to the later.

Thanks for reading.
Lee.