Minsky Moments in IT

According to the Wall Street Journal (In Time of Tumult, Obscure Economist Gains Currency) we're having a Minsky moment in the financial markets: "...At its core, the Minsky view was straightforward: When times are good, investors take on risk; the longer times stay good, the more risk they take on, until they've taken on too much...". At some point, we're reminded that the odds are usually stacked against the gambler. Taking on too much risk, whether from buying more house than you can afford (or being coerced into doing so), or investing in high risk hedge funds for the promise of a 30% gain, is a gamble. It's seductive to fall back on natural optimism and believe that house prices and investments will continue to appreciate indefinitely, or that we'll see the drop coming in time to get out with assets in tact. The longer we're rewarded with gains, the more risk we're willing to take - until the bets are called in. A Minsky moment.

Minsky could have been a great IT executive. Of course, he would have helped us avoid the tech bubble of the late 90's, which was yet another example of his economic perspective. But, what if he had worked with the fledgling technology consulting industry during the 90's? Companies like Cambridge Technology Partners came alive during the bubble and changed the way that software was delivered to corporate America. I made the shift from being a 'product developer' to a 'high tech consultant' during these years. Looking back, the shift was largely about taking on more risk in technology delivery. Over the past fifteen years we've embraced so much risk in custom software delivery, it's no surprise we're seeing Minsky moments in corporate IT.

TIAA-CREF is currently in the midst of an IT Minsky moment SunGard, TIAA-CREF IT Slammed by Developers. It's not unusual to see executives and vendors begin to believe their own 'best case scenario', and willingly take on the risk of pushing code to production early (believing that it will just work, or issues can be patched post production). Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

I was very fortunate to be indoctrinated in software development discipline in the early 1980's at IBM, where I started my career as a mainframe product developer. At that time, most of the management team in my area were ex-military, and IBM put me through over 560 hours of classroom training in software development process, technology and team development. We had the luxury of 18 or 24 month product delivery cycles, but that time was well used - we had formal software estimation processes and extensive testing. Although we ran into and solved some very interesting problems, we had very little drama and few surprises. It was the complete antithesis of the high tech consulting I did in the 90's. From my perspective, custom software projects in corporate America are run more like hedge funds than military operations these days, so it's no surprise we're having Minsky moments in IT.

Do women hate IT? (what's to hate?)

Since all information, and most technology, comes with a point of view, here's mine:

• I'm female


• I've held technical jobs as a software product developer, technology consultant and IT manager over the past 25 years


• I've worked as an employee of Microsoft, and IBM (hoping for the trifecta by bagging a job at Red Hat someday)
  
• I compiled something today

So, I suppose this gives me a point of view on both Women and 'IT'. I see that there are quite a few other people who have views on this too, after reading comments on the Wall Street Journal Online edition article Do Women Hate IT?. What's all the fuss?

I don't know what people mean by the letters 'IT' these days. Does it mean you bang out source code for hours on end, while your keepers slide cold pizza under the door? Do you work with accountants and their arcane spreadsheet models in an effort to show them the wonders of data warehousing? Do you manage virtualized server farms with more compute power than most small countries? How can all these things pop into a woman's mind when she sees the letters 'IT', and, more important, how can Women possibly hate such a broad (no pun intended) concept? It's mind boggling. I certainly don't hate anything that falls under the umbrella of 'IT' these days, but I can't claim to represent all Women.

I don't want to get too philosophical here, but I'm not sure I know what 'hate' means in this context, either. I associate hatred with adrenaline and testosterone. Personally (not being privy to that much testosterone), I relate more to feelings of frustration, determination, creativity and optimism than hatred. I suppose that when a man writes about the declining ranks of women in technology fields it's natural for him to wonder if 'Women Hate IT', because hatred is natural in his point of view. After all, there are some awfully strong feelings about 'IT' out there - the linux community hates Microsoft (well, lots of people hate Microsoft), Steve Ballmer hates open source, hard core java programmers hate .NET. It's a testosterone driven industry.

As a woman, I view female brain drain in technology as a great loss. I'd like to think that a female author would treat the complex reasons for the exodus with some insight rather than boiling everything down to something as primal and thoughtless as hatred. "Women Hate IT" - that must be the answer.

I don't think classic 'IT' is a great career choice any more. The field is so broad that it requires specialization - as a programmer, infrastructure expert, security expert, networking expert, business intelligence analyst, program manager, sales support engineer, or any number of technology-related roles. Some of these jobs are more easily offshored than others, so if you like banging out code while someone slides pizza under the door, you compete with the masses in India and China. Likewise, if you make your living in 'corporate IT' you're better off as an an employee of IBM or EDS than a bank or retail business. Banks and large retailers outsource their buildings' electrical and plumbing maintenance, and 'IT' is going the way of the rest of the infrastructure. In my view, the best 'IT' jobs are in true software companies, where it really is a core business to create technology products.

Despite the challenges of 'IT', I do love technology. I play with databases and XML dialects and tinker with Silverlight to see if I think it's a viable contender to Flash. I help my kids make multimedia stories on Webkinz. I'm happy to live in a world where I can learn about a new technology, nearly every day. But that brings me back to the article - maybe it's just that I love technology but don't love the environment that I contend with in order to make my living at it. That's a bit different.

After 25 years making my living in technology, I'm going back to school for an MBA and may go on for a PhD. I enjoy Economics and Finance just as much at technology, and I appear to be pretty good at more than just 'IT'. As much as I hate being a statistic, I'm probably going to support the numbers pointing to the drop of Women in 'IT'. Does that mean I 'hate IT'?

No, maybe it just means I'd like to try something new...

When I landed my first job at IBM, right out of college, my father told me I was set for life and I'd never have to work for another company again. 'Cradle to grave' companies and a gold watch after 25 years... times have certainly changed. After 25 years in my field, I now look forward to the second half of my career. Working in 'IT' requires the ability to learn and absorb information quickly - I think it's an excellent preparation for my next career.

Me, I love 'IT' - technology is everywhere in my home, my life, my work, and family entertainment. Who wouldn't love it? Or, better yet, how could anyone hate it?