Comments on: Bedside manner http://www.nerdherding.net/2005/10/13/bedside-manner/ Working with nerds for fun and profit Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:59:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Michael Harmer http://www.nerdherding.net/2005/10/13/bedside-manner/#comment-18338 Michael Harmer Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:01:42 +0000 http://www.nerdherding.net/?p=98#comment-18338 Good comment Iang. It is so true that the personality and approach needed for successful nerdery is strongly correlated with what could be described as a poor bedside manner. I've seen a few hardcore "klingon" types change when they realise that not everyone is the same as them. The changes are mostly positive and bring about an increase in empathy. The trouble is that sometimes the changes push people towards contempt for people who don't understand the finer points of whatever technology and project he/she is working on. Regardless, I do think that it is selfish not to consider others' needs and concerns and to at least try (within the bounds of one's nerdery) to change for the better. Good comment Iang. It is so true that the personality and approach needed for successful nerdery is strongly correlated with what could be described as a poor bedside manner.

I’ve seen a few hardcore “klingon” types change when they realise that not everyone is the same as them. The changes are mostly positive and bring about an increase in empathy. The trouble is that sometimes the changes push people towards contempt for people who don’t understand the finer points of whatever technology and project he/she is working on.

Regardless, I do think that it is selfish not to consider others’ needs and concerns and to at least try (within the bounds of one’s nerdery) to change for the better.

]]> By: Iang http://www.nerdherding.net/2005/10/13/bedside-manner/#comment-18316 Iang Thu, 13 Oct 2005 13:28:42 +0000 http://www.nerdherding.net/?p=98#comment-18316 The problem of computers might be characterised as the problem of raising nerds with the brains of a computer; the better the nerd is, the more his brain understands and thinks like a computer. And less like a human, there is a cost to any skill and that is in other skills like social interaction and understanding of the needs, capabilities and fears of people. Where these come into inescapable conflict is with a computer job that involves humans - either support or teams of more than one nerd. Then, the nerd is faced with conflicts that are quite possibly irreconcilable for many as the computer demands one thought process but the people demand another. I wonder if it is asking too much to ask a computer brain to "think" of the other people in the organisation. I've never had much success in appealing to nerds to be sensitive to the needs of others; and this might be slanted as "selfish", but it goes way beyond that to the need to think like a computer. In computing, there is no such thing as self, so nerds don't think in those terms. On the other hand, I've had a lot of success in explaining the quid pro quo. Sometimes it is hard work, but if I can find the right dose of "reality" and feed it to the team in a concise enough story that relates their interests of computing to the wider picture, then it works well. It might be explaining why the users think as they do, and how they really haven't the time, the lifestyle, the need, nor the brain to think how the nerds want them to. Or it might be simply explaining that even though the client has proposed a dumb and mentally painful set of requirements that will never work, the client is prepared to pay top dollar in contract rates for that work to be done. The problem of computers might be characterised as the problem of raising nerds with the brains of a computer; the better the nerd is, the more his brain understands and thinks like a computer. And less like a human, there is a cost to any skill and that is in other skills like social interaction and understanding of the needs, capabilities and fears of people.

Where these come into inescapable conflict is with a computer job that involves humans - either support or teams of more than one nerd. Then, the nerd is faced with conflicts that are quite possibly irreconcilable for many as the computer demands one thought process but the people demand another.

I wonder if it is asking too much to ask a computer brain to “think” of the other people in the organisation. I’ve never had much success in appealing to nerds to be sensitive to the needs of others; and this might be slanted as “selfish”, but it goes way beyond that to the need to think like a computer. In computing, there is no such thing as self, so nerds don’t think in those terms.

On the other hand, I’ve had a lot of success in explaining the quid pro quo. Sometimes it is hard work, but if I can find the right dose of “reality” and feed it to the team in a concise enough story that relates their interests of computing to the wider picture, then it works well. It might be explaining why the users think as they do, and how they really haven’t the time, the lifestyle, the need, nor the brain to think how the nerds want them to. Or it might be simply explaining that even though the client has proposed a dumb and mentally painful set of requirements that will never work, the client is prepared to pay top dollar in contract rates for that work to be done.

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