Cost of training. -- RPG400-L

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Our VP of IS has an IS degree.  He actually started out in marketing.
Lasted for two weeks until he got transferred into IS.  But back then the
former VP of IS tried to groom many IS people for future management
positions.  And a few have went on to be VP's.  Anyway, our current VP
coded in the trenches for several years, went on to become a plant manager
and got pulled back into IS when the VP of IS became the VP of
Administration.  He hasn't coded in years.  But he is very technically
sharp.  He stays on top of iSeries performance, network equipment, phone
systems, etc.  And I can still bounce ideas off of him and he'll suggest
things like data queues and what not.  As a VP he attends many of the
plants progress reports and is business sharp also.  Very easy going guy
also.  In fact it is a shame when he gets a slacker because he hopes so
much for them he finds it hard to terminate them.  I fired one when he was
on vacation once.  He agreed with my decision, although we had carried
this person for years.  I sometimes think that this is his use for middle
managers.  They can handle these nasty matters.

Rob Berendt
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin




"alan shore" <SHOREA@dime.com>
Sent by: rpg400-l-admin@midrange.com
05/24/2002 08:40 AM
Please respond to rpg400-l


        To:     <rpg400-l@midrange.com>
        cc:
        Fax to:
        Subject:        RE: Difference bet. Primary and Full procedural file.


Boy do I really disagree with you there. We just had a guy with a
marketing background. His personnel and organizational skills were
fantastic, and everyone really liked him as a person, but his technical
knowledge (or lack thereof) really hurt us badly. He would make decisions
with users that when he came back to inform us of the decisions, in most
cases, we had to argue against him, before he saw the light, and then had
to return to the user with the rectified plan. This made this very
intelligent guy look a real scmuck. He is now back in marketing, doing
really good, and we have a new manager, technically  knowledgable, but as
a manager, leaves A LOT to be desired.

>>> "Smith, Nelson" <NSmith@lincare.com> 05/24/02 09:22AM >>>
Also, most shops I've seen are "managed" by ex-programmers who only have
time to fight the daily fires and have not had the time/inclination to
"keep
up" technically, and don't wan't their programmers using techniques that
they themselves are not familiar with.  Because of their programming
background, such managers believe that they need to be able to maintain
the
code themselves, in an emergency.

Personally, I believe non-programmers make much better managers.
Antiquated
skill sets don't get in the way.  Project, personnel, and organizational
skills are much more important management skills than technical knowhow.


> I think that the RPG400-L community as a whole *is*, in fact, more
> aggressive in learning and utilizing multiple languages than the general
> AS/400 IT population.  Most of the negative comments regarding the use
of
> a
> new/unused language *usually* stems from an ugly, but recurring,
business
> reality.  Some like to call it the "Mack truck syndrome"; if I'm doing a
> lot
> of programming in REXX and I get hit today by a Mack truck, who's going
to
> maintain my code?  Frankly, since there aren't that many AS/400
> professionals that know REXX, most companies would probably scrap my
REXX
> apps and start from scratch.  That is why most companies keep a tight
rein
> on the tools they allow their programmers to use.
>
>


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