On credibility in a free-for-all medium
As is his way, Brent has once again indirectly inspired musings on a subject. In this case the matter is of credibility. I recently read an amusing article called You Are Being Lied To on a related theme:
Those business writers and speakers… talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk. I know many of the world’s leading customer service speakers and writers. Call them. You will be lucky to get your call returned. The relationship experts aren’t usually in a relationship… The financial experts are broke. I even know experts on ethics and integrity who don’t pay their bills…
It argues that there are no new secrets to success in business (indeed any aspect of life), that haven’t been true forever. Anyone who claims otherwise just wants to sell you a book or a seminar ticket.
The web provides a platform for any of us to “publish” our thoughts and connect with others. There lies the caveat though… Anyone. The blogger isn’t necessarily a professional journalist. They need no recognised qualification or experience in their chosen subject, only a computer and an opinion.
I wish I had a pound for every tutorial I’ve read that was hopelessly inaccurate, every script I’ve tried that simply didn’t work (or was too poorly documented to employ). I have plans along those lines, but they can wait for another day…
So credibility becomes a crucial issue, perhaps the most important currency you can have. Can it even be achieved, or does it only exist in the eye of the beholder? How do you recognise and measure it? How do you retain it?
I know I’m good at what I do. This certainty has nothing to do with how inspired my visuals are, or how refined my code is. My graphic design skills are, frankly, a little rusty from four years as a developer. As a coder I’m lost without my previous projects, books and a web connection to find the syntax I want.
I know it because when I set out to create something, I succeed. Because each time I work, I try to do it better than last time in some small way.
I can’t tell anyone the right way to build a web page: no one can. I can tell you how I built one today. I can share the ways in which it was a little better than yesterday, a lot better than last year. You might suggest how I could do better tomorrow.
Perhaps all any of us can do is send our flawed, preconceived opinions out there. Hopefully a respectful dialogue will ensue that leaves us all a little wiser.
As a wise fellow put it:
“Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”
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March 9th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Nice post, if only it weren’t true.
It gets horrendously more difficult when you factor in the influx of developers in recent years. Some are astoundingly smart and have sickening degrees of talent.
The rest fall into the category of ‘book smart’ and can’t complete simple tasks. This article is by no means unusual, nor is it an experience anyone involved with dev recruiting that is new.
Of course the problem isn’t just in dev as you point out, my experiences with the vamps has every idiot looking for credibility lifting articles from others and books, talking about the subject without experience and then later publishing their own book (yeah, thanks for that lulu) bestowing their knowledge on others.
The only solution and the one that we’ve been trying to ram down people’s throats is nicely summed up by the disclaimer we use :
this article should not be regarded by readers as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgement.
March 9th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I have to admit to being shocked by that article. I’m no hardcore developer (I’d probably fall squarely into the ‘book smart’ category) but I could write you a FizzBuzz in fairly short order…
March 9th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Sadly, I have to say the 199 out of 200 may be an exageration, but only a slight one.
The vast majority of CVs we get in fall in to the ‘talk but can’t walk’ category and our current project, where we are using a LOT of new MS technologies (Windows Workflow, CAB, Smart Client, .NET 3.0) has already scared off two supposedly ‘top-notch’ consultants.
These are the folks who make it past the ‘fizzbuzz’ style tests… so you can imagine just how difficult it is to hire decent people.