What vs How (was Re: FMTSRC)

[email@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James W Kilgore)]

Buck,

The scenario you describe is one of two worlds.  I do agree with you whenever 
I'm
the "hired gun" and have a three fold job: 1) solve the problem at hand 2) 
comply
to standards 3) expand their education.  The hard part is when the person who 
has
in-house control over a project is more interested in supporting/justifying the
path that is being followed then they are in a balanced effort between short 
term
results and long term gain. (at times that path was not even chosen in this
decade or by the chief advocate .. go figure) Sigh.  In this situation I take 
the
same role as the Senate: "advise and consent". (and document choices/decisions 
up
the gazoo!)

The second, and my favorite, is where I am given objectives, shop standards and 
a
free reign to create/solve.  The objective is for the client/employer to have a
problem solved (within budget), their staff has expanded exposure to solutions,
the solution has longevity and I have yet to receive anything on a stone tablet.
I guess it's the subtle difference between guidelines and rules.

Maybe some of the discussion I've contributed to has to do with the position
within the project.  The best analogy that I can come up with is like having 
your
home built.  There are a myriad of job functions involved and I place myself as
architect and prime contractor (usually).  Along with providing solutions to the
requester, there is the instilling of confidence in their choice of
architect/prime.  Once that nontechnical hurdle has been jumped, artistic 
freedom
becomes available.  And for me, that's the more rewarding side of the technical
career coin.  Although there is enough geek in me to get an internal "hooya" out
of shaving some time out of a production run. :-)

James W. Kilgore
email@James-W-Kilgore.com

Buck Calabro/commsoft wrote:

>
>
> I know that I *hate* it when a customer tells me what code to write and
> what files to create.  It's very difficult to do a thorough job when the
> client is reviewing your code unless the client is up-to-date in their
> coding skills.
>

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