Bad Faith In Software Engineering
A type of ‘friendly fire’ between engineers that must be prevented, at any cost.
Software engineers, most especially the progressive ones, tend to be the objective, methodical, and logical souls wondering around countless homes and (thankfully fewer) offices clutching steaming coffee mugs to their gentle hearts whilst pondering meaning in its most acute form.
Whether it’s “why are we here?” (in this meeting), “who created this?” (project plan), or “what happens after we die?” (we buy that café half way up a secluded mountain we’ve been talking about for years) — we find our meaning from our objectivity, the ability to contain the continual dissonance, but most of all from the innate cynicism that burns inside us and connects us all like the infamous Eye of Harmony.
We are masters of the life and death of bits¹ and the surrealism of it all gives us a unique view of life.
Well, mostly.
Now, I’m absolutely sure that you can understand what I mean when I say that it worries me greatly that there are some people, not at all like this, who also inhabit the Grand Game.
No, I’m not talking about our opponents — the managers, evangelists, and ne’er do wells of the upper echelons — I’m talking about players on our very own side.
