There Can Be Only One
You heard me. I know it sounds like some line out of a sci-fi action movie but sometimes this idea can spill over into the world of software development.
The Alpha Geek
Every IT department has one. He’s the guy who believes he is the smartest. He has all of the answers. Everything is always “easy”, just “do this” or “do that”. Are these guys bad? No, not necessarily. However if you have two vying for the position of Alpha Geek within the organization things can get ugly.
I have seen this first hand. Each tries to “one-up” the other. In some particularly bad cases, this geek death match can influence choices in technology, architecture and implementation of systems. Typically this type of geek is usually involved in strategic positioning of the enterprise and this fight can leave countless victims in its wake.
When this type of competition is underway, neither of those involved can be questioned. They see this as an additional challenge to their position and will quickly try to discredit any challengers. They feel no need to explain themselves, after all it is their design, their hard work and who are you to question them?!
Resolution..or Lack Thereof
How is this to be resolved? I don’t have the answer. I would think that it should be the management staff these geeks report to that should step in when they see this happening. Instead of these two individuals working together, they attempt divide an organization in order to win their particular competition.
People’s jobs are on the line, not just now but if this system goes live – driven by factors tied to a Alpha Geek Fight, people in IT at this organization will suffer for it in the future.