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How To Stop The Rivalry Between Software Development And “Contractors”
…and avoid the corporate gang war
Riffs between “contractors” and your software development team are like gang violence. You wear red; I wear blue, so we’re supposed to fight.
Riddle me this: IT administrators give me neutered access to all subsystems if I start as a contractor. But If I join tomorrow as a W2 employee, the same guy with the same character (good or bad) gets more corporate access. Why?
Contractor status is a badge of shame. It’s a reason for W2 engineers to treat other engineers as alien and inferior species.
I recall working for a company where contractors and W2'ers used separate bathrooms. Dirty mangy, software developers with master's degrees in computer science need not use the same toilets.
Instead of a blue bandana, your W2 signifies your gang affiliation. Your gang tattoo is the different levels of access you have to share documents and the network.
It’s a guilty until proven innocent mantra designed to divide.
We fall for this nonsensical trap. At the expense of delivering business value, we wage war over access to websites, meetings with passcodes, and corporate strategy.
