Technical Decisions by Non Technical People
November 23, 2008
The article “Top Scientist Rails against Hirings” ran in the Washington Post on November 22, 2008, here. i worked in Washington, DC for many years. Going to a technical meeting at which most attendees had degress in social work, liberal arts, and political science was so much a part of the Washington gold fish bowl, I never thought about the implications of a person who could plan a well balanced meal making a decision about the software infrastrucutre for the House of Representatives. I used to say to anyone who asked about so and so’s leadership skills, “It is what it is.” But the article by Juliet Eilperin and Carol D. Leonnig stuck with me, an intellectual cracker with peanut butter in manner of speaking.
The comment that snagged me was:
“It’s ludicrous to have people who do not have a scientific background, who are not trained and skilled in the ways of science, make decisions that involve resources, that involve facilities in the scientific infrastructure,” said James McCarthy, a Harvard University oceanographer who is president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “You’d just like to think people have more respect for the institution of government than to leave wreckage behind with these appointments.”
Dr. McCarthy seems to be a modern day Don Quixote, tilting at wind mills adjacent the Potomac River. I agree with him, but the practice of people with training in Andrew Marvell’s religious metaphors making decisions about technology reaches beyond the Beltway. I find the same management method in commercial and non profit organizations. Today everyone is qualified to comment about technology. More significantly, these folks decide about search, content transformation, interfaces, and server infrastructure.
Worked like a champ in the government, and it is demonstrating its impact in the commercial sector as well. In my opinion, we need more engineers, mathematicians and scientists making management decisions and fewer people who know how to organize a wedding.
Stephen Arnold, November 23, 2008
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