Are IT bods/contractors smarter than everyone else?

[sasguru]

I agree. I believe I shall shortly be doing somewhat more as I've joined a network of professional people in NL which includes some very experienced managers AND professionals who recognise this problem and want to to something about it on a commercial basis.

Good luck. It's very difficult to find people who have worked at the coal face for years and yet have the political skills to work in large organisations.
Such people are the ones making the big bucks.

[minestrone]

If you speak with nurses and doctors, who are generally pretty intelligent, you’ll hear tales of highly trained professionals being bossed around and judged in their performance by people who know nothing about medicine.

Get it every night from the other half, after Shipman they decided to do appraisals on GPs, I am told the abridged interview goes like this..

"I hope you are feeling well, do you want a glass of water? do you want to kill old women?" "no" "ok, see you next year"

Stiil the gf does not know how to work a thermostat.

When I was at uni doing Mech Eng some mixer decided to test the IQ of the social science degree students against the IQ of the engineering students. There was something like a 20 point jump in favour of engineering.

[oracleslave]

Get it every night from the other half

I always knew she was generous your missus

[sasguru]

I always knew she was generous your missus

You too, eh?

[Ivor Bigun]

I agree. I believe I shall shortly be doing somewhat more as I've joined a network of professional people in NL which includes some very experienced managers AND professionals who recognise this problem and want to to something about it on a commercial basis.

yeh, yeh -
Consider this - If you truely believed what you say, you'd advertise the idea of "Linkedin" to everyone so that everyone had an equal chance to "progress".

The fact is this, you're just like the next guy - Trying to gain power and grab more money for yourself. There's nothing wrong in that - Just don't try and pretend otherwise as you've been rumbled before you even think it.

You may not realise it, but your attitude is typically Dutch - i.e. You see something thats not being done. You consider it a career advance if YOU do it, so you take it over. After the "job grab", you use it as an example as to why you should be rewarded. It's a sort of American approach but IMO, it is considered devious to a typical Anglo-Saxon and thats where the problem lies. Its one of culture

After all, you don't highlight it to the manager who should be dealing with it - you "overstep" your responsibilities and try to take over his role because it suits YOU.

This is the reason why managers have to be skilled at what they do - they have to keep "loose Dutch cannons" like yourself in check without you knowing - or contain / remove you if it looks like you are about to corupt things too much i.e. you've adapted things and now the manager can no longer totally manage you without potential risk.

That is why you are denied manegerial powers.....
Its nothing to do with your technical ability to do it.

[Mich the Tester]

Good luck. It's very difficult to find people who have worked at the coal face for years and yet have the political skills to work in large organisations.
Such people are the ones making the big bucks.

You know, I’m not really motivated by the really big bucks. I earn enough (as long as I can stay in work), along with Mrs Tester, to enjoy a lifestyle I could only have dreamt about as a child and which is beyond the reach of most people. What motivates me is actually something else; helping an organisation or a team to do something really well. Not cheaply, or quickly, but really really well. I get a thousand times more satisfaction from the fact that my amateur rugby team is top of it’s league and I’m allowed to play my little part on the field than from getting a rate rise of a few euros. Likewise, my most successful project, of which I am proud, was testing a safety critical system for the emergency services; it works, has worked with no real problems for more than a year now, and has helped to save lots of lives.

I like people and organisations who have a passion for what they do, like chefs who put heart and soul into making good food, nurses who genuinely care about the welfare of patients, a local farmer who breeds pedigree pigs and produces some of the best pork in NL, or even a company like Ferrari, who could easily choose to outsource their production to Cheapo-cheapoland and just live off the brand that their predecessors had built, but prefer to stick stubbornly to craftsmanship and authenticity. Waterford, Wedgwood and all the major banks could have learned something from all these people.

Of course, if I can get the big bucks I won’t turn them down, but that has to be on my terms; big bucks should be the reward for competence, integrity and long term success for all the people who depend on an organisation, not the result of quick-wins that cripple an organisation in the long term.

[Foxy Moron]

Sounds like you are a Rich thinker Mich, Rather than thinking about getting Rich.

If that makes sense

[Mich the Tester]

yeh, yeh -
Consider this - If you truely believed what you say, you'd advertise the idea of "Linkedin" to everyone so that everyone had an equal chance to "progress".
You may not realise it, but your attitude is typically Dutch - i.e. if you see something thats not being done and its a career advance to you. So, you do it and take it over. After the "job grab", you use it as an example as to why you should be rewarded. It's a sort of American approach but IMO, it is considered devious to a typical Anglo-Saxon and thats where the problem lies. Its one of culture

I'm afraid you're wrong. I'm a genuine, unashamed idealist who's actually crazy enough to care about what goes on.

[expat]

Stiil the gf does not know how to work a thermostat.

but it's obvious that the higher you set it, the faster it will warm up!

Hmm, me too.

[Drewster]

In answer to the original question - No

[rant] It gets on my t*ts when people generalise huge swathes of (different) people into single categories.

So often this is allowed/ignored... where in other areas it is recognised as prejudice.

I know many "IT Contractors" who are total *rses, thick as tulip etc
and many who are sharp as nails...
but then I know a few Dustmen.... some of them are thick some aren't...

A mate of mine gave up IT and is now a "casual" Postman.... he was one of the smartest Analyst/Programmers I have ever met...... now he is the smartest Postie......

Why can't we all live together in peace? Why do we always judge people?
I have a Dream......... [/rant]