[ale] OT: Indian outsourcing

[Jeff Hubbs]

Pizza makes a very good point.  I first delved into Boolean algebra and
rudimentary (i.e., assembly-level) computing in junior high and had
access to a computer that I could write programs on in high school. 
Everything I bring to the table when it comes to IT program/project
management and consulting is based on those experiences and every
subsequent experience I've had in the field, and my knowledge base grows
and morphs constantly.  I've written complex code that implemented
mathematical processes that I had to devise in order to solve real
problems.  If it weren't for that, how could I hope to understand what
people who are trying to do the same thing face?
 
Today, there are people calling themselves Senior Architects, Technical
Leads, and Project Managers who have none of the intuitive and ingrained
knowledge that years and years of experience bring.  It helps, for
instance, to be able to tell right off the bat if a problem is even
*computable* (think "traveling salesman") before even thinking about
writing the first line.  

On Wed, 2004-01-28 at 12:22, Stuffed Crust wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2004 at 11:41:47AM -0500, Fulton Green wrote:
> > The main takeaway of the article seems to be that the next shift in
> > *onshore* employment needs to be to the areas of creativity and
> > innovation, since we still have a perceived advantage in those realms
> > whereas the IT and other BPO activities offshort tend to focus solely on
> > the refinement of an innovation or concept (a la the Japanese car
> > industry).
> 
> There's only one problem with that idea.  For people to have those
> higher-end design/creative jobs, they have to spend their time in the
> trenches too.  You must first learn the trade to become creative in it.  
> You know, the whole "learn to walk before you can run" thing.  You just 
> don't pick up a paintbrush and end up with the Mona Lisa.  It takes 
> years of practice and work before you may become a master.
> 
> Would you trust a "software architect" that's never written any code; 
> who has no significant experience?   
> 
> So how are we to get experience, when to get jobs we need experience? 
> From the low-to-mid-level jobs that don't exist any more?  What do we do
> when the current generation of "experienced" people eventually retires? 
> Who will perform the next round of designing and "creativity"?  The
> people who do the low-to-mid-level jobs today, that's who.  And they'll
> leave new low-level jobs behind as they move up the ladder, for new
> people to gain experience.  And those people will become the following
> generation of creators and designers.
> 
> We're not just talking about the outsourcing/offshoring of miscellaneous
> programming here -- we're talking about companies outsourcing R&D work. 
> We're talking about companies outsourcing their *core business*.  US
> corporations are becoming little more than sales & marketing shells.  
> What will happen is that slowly we'll become the "outsourced marketing" 
> firms, then we'll get cut out of the loop entirely once they wake up and 
> realize that they don't need us.
> 
> Experience is analogous to education.  And what's happening is that it's
> been turned into just another expense to be minimized, rather than as
> the investment it really is.   Corprations can't see past their current 
> quarter, much less plan years in advance.
> 
> Let me take this opportunity to plug Issac Asimov's excellent short 
> story, _Profession_.  It's well worth the read, and quite relevant to 
> the matter at hand.
> 
> http://www.abelard.org/asimov.htm
>  
>  - Pizza