Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
intellectual challenge rather than interpersonal relations or managerial
decision-making. … Do not consider the impulsive, the glad hander, or
the 'operator.'”
51
The one personality characteristic of programmers that
appeared to be universally recognized was their “disinterest in people.”
According to an infl uential study by the SDC personnel psychologists
Dallis Perry and William Cannon, compared with other corporate
employees, “programmers dislike activities involving close personal
interaction. They prefer to work with things rather than people.”
52
Whether this lack of sociability was an inherent trait of talented pro-
grammers, a refl ection of self-selection within the profession, or an
undeserved stereotype is largely irrelevant: the point is that the percep-
tion that programmers were “diffi cult” was widespread in the industry.
As the management consultant Richard Brandon described it, the average
programmer was “often egocentric, slightly neurotic, and he borders
upon a limited schizophrenia.” As a group, programmers could be singled
out in any corporation by their higher incidence of “beards, sandals,
and other symptoms of rugged individualism or nonconformity.”
53
Programmers were hardly a group that seemed destined to get along well
with traditional managers.
There is some truth to the perception that the “longest-haired com-
puter theorists” were seen as corporate outsiders.
54
Leaving aside the fact
that apparently enough working programmers took their artistic persona
seriously enough to fl aunt corporate conventions of dress and appear-
ance, the need to keep expensive computers running as continuously as
possible meant that many programmers worked nonstandard hours.
During the day the machine operators had privileged access to the
machines, so programmers frequently worked at night and were there-
fore not always available during traditional business hours. The need to
work nights appeared to have a particular problem for female program-
mers, who were frequently barred by company policy from being on the
premises during the off-hours.
55
Combined with their sometimes slovenly
appearance, this practice of keeping odd hours suggested to more con-
ventional employees that programmers considered themselves superior.
The direct supervisors of computer personnel might have understood the
underlying reasons for these apparent eccentricities, but the majority of
managers did not. The fact that data processing was seen as a service
department within the larger organization also did nothing to help ingra-
tiate programmers to their colleagues. Whereas most other employees
saw themselves as part of a collective endeavor to make things or provide
services, service staffs were seen as a necessary though nonproductive
