Comments on: Business Value of Deep Understanding for Developers

By: Mark Freedman

Mark Freedman — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:06:26 +0000

Re-reading this now, I see your point. In my company, this role has evolved into a combination PM / Architect role, and the PM role is a combination PM / Business Analyst role. I may have been too close to it for almost eight years to recognize that both positions are sharing in the PM role. That could also explain why I’m so often frustrated in my role there. Never enough time to think.

Thanks for your comments.

By: RealWorldEngineer

RealWorldEngineer — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:22:50 +0000

Your definition of an architect seems to be a proxy for much of what a Project Manager should be responsible for. In fact this definition sounds more like that in your company a lot of the work is getting pushed down or over onto the “architect” as a catch all position.

My philosophy is that an architect needs to be FOCUSED on the product or product line from the technology side. The project manager should be responsible for process.

In a perfect world you would have –
Engineering Manager: manages people first, process second, and technology third.
Project Manager: manages process first and resources second.
Architect: manages technology first, process second, and people third.

IMHO, the architect position is a thinking position and that requires time to think.

By: Amy B

Amy B — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:18:30 +0000

I think this goes far beyond the developer/architect realm. I have been in organizations where the promotion from peon to Assistant Vice President and AVP to VP is considered the be-all or end-all. Yet it means absolutely nothing in terms of pay, credibility or responsibility. At one organization, 250 out of 2000 employees were AVPs, it’s like water, it’s so common. Yet, 99% of the people I know were seriously disgruntled if they did not make AVP at 4 years and VP at 7, regardless of their performance (or more specifically, lack thereof!) It’s this sense of entitlement thing, I think. Older generations didn’t have it, but in the 30-somethings and younger, I definitely see it.