Comments on: Tools

By: Dan Creswell

Dan Creswell — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:39:03 +0000

You know, I was actually thinking of quoting Brooks on this one but I didn’t want to be ripping off your style. Nevertheless, yes exactly.

By: Steve Jones

Steve Jones — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:28:30 +0000

In other words… THERE IS NO BLOODY SILVER BULLET and the challenge of IT remains in the intellectual sphere of design not in the implementation sphere of coding.

THINKING is hard, typing is easy.

By: Dan Creswell

Dan Creswell — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:50:26 +0000

Hi Robert,

“Like the software industry, the newbies are infatuated with cool tools for a period of time, which only wears off after they gain experience in the work and are on their 2nd or 3rd set of tools.”

In my own experience I’ve seen that to be true, unfortunately I’ve also seen many an “experienced worker” continue to fall into the trap. One might claim that maturity of the industry, not just the individual workers is required I guess…..

By: Robert Brewer

Robert Brewer — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:18:32 +0000

“Does a carpenter get excited about a saw, a power-drill or the latest hammer? Not really, because long ago they realised that whilst one must know how to make effective use of a tool and how to maintain it whilst it goes unused, what really matters is figuring out what the job itself actually is. This is the context that dictates which tools are appropriate.”

That’s not been my experience in construction. Twenty-somethings get excited about saws and power drills and hammers all the time. Like the software industry, the newbies are infatuated with cool tools for a period of time, which only wears off after they gain experience in the work and are on their 2nd or 3rd set of tools.

Replace “smart techie” with “experienced worker” and your statements ring truer. I’m not convinced there are any shortcuts to that.