Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and keypunch operators remained relatively unskilled and, to a certain
degree, feminized. Yet the largest and fastest-growing segment of this
population, the computer programmers, were increasingly being recog-
nized as being valuable—perhaps even irreplaceable—corporate employ-
ees. This was certainly true of the fi rst generation of programmers, whose
idiosyncratic techniques for coaxing maximum performance out of prim-
itive equipment were absolutely indispensable. The fact that the tech-
nology of computing was changing so rapidly in this period further
complicated the ability of even data processing managers—who generally
lacked practical programming experience—to understand and supervise
the activities of programmers. The “best practice” guidelines that applied
to one particular generation of equipment were quickly superseded by a
different set of techniques and methodologies.
47
Even as the technology
of computing stabilized over the course of the early 1950s, though, pro-
grammers maintained their position of central importance. Perhaps even
more crucial, programming acquired a reputation for being a uniquely
creative endeavor, one relatively immune from traditional managerial
controls. The discovery (allegedly) of great disparities between program-
mers reinforced the conventional wisdom that good programmers were
born, not made. One widely cited IBM study determined that code pro-
duced by a truly excellent programmer was twenty-six times more effi -
cient than that produced by their merely average colleagues.
48
Despite
the serious methodological fl aws that compromised this particular study
(including a sample population of only twelve individuals), the twenty-
six to one performance ratio quickly became part of the standard lore
of the industry. The implication was that talented programmers were
effectively irreplaceable. “The vast range of programmer performance
indicated earlier may mean that it is diffi cult to obtain better size-
performance software using machine code written by an army of pro-
grammers of lesser than average caliber,” argued Dr. Edward E. David
of Bell Telephone Laboratories.
49
All of this suggested that “the major
managerial task” was fi nding—and keeping—“the right people”: “with
the right people, all problems vanish.”
50
The idea that computer programmers possessed an innate and inar-
ticulable skill was soon embodied in the hiring practices of the industry,
which selected programmers on the basis of aptitude tests and personal-
ity profi les that emphasized mathematical ability and logical thinking
over business knowledge or managerial savvy. In fact, many of these
early selection mechanisms seemed to pick traits that were entirely
opposed to traditional corporate virtues. “Look for those who like
