Occasionally, someone will express surprise when they learn that I don't primarily hire computer science graduates at my software development and implementation consultancy. In fact, I typically maintain that most organizations would do better to have relatively fewer computer science graduates in their IT organizations than they do. This is one of the reasons I tend to ignore the press about the "troubling" decline in students pursuing C.S. degrees. The only reason it is a fundamental problem is if those hiring the coming generations of IT professionals do not put the relevance of a CompSci degree (or any degree) in context. My hope with this post is to provide readers with some context as to the significance, or lack thereof, of a CSci degree for the typical systems developer in corporate IT.
Why don't I place a premium on specialized study of Computer Science? In a nutshell, it is neither necessary, nor is it typically sufficient, training for a great deal of business systems development.
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This post is neither romantic in nature or talking about the iconic 70's band by the name Kiss. Rather, this is about the good advice of KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Complexity is one of those paradoxical things that in business tends to be verbally opposed - but actions speak louder than words, and all of us in business have a tendency toward adding complexity just one bit at a time - draining the productive blood from the organization through a series of paper cuts. This month, Ken Keverian, Vikas Tenaja and Bob Victor of the Boston Consulting Group have an interesting article, "As Simple as Possible" [PDF Link] that has some intereresting food for thought on complexity.
While complexity can lurk anywhere in an organization, Keverian et al, seem to see most of it driven by a form of customer-responsiveness. This makes sense, it would be rare (and rather irrational) to introduce complexity for no reason. They provide three quick warning signs to look at your company to see whether you may have too much complexity. Do any of the following sound like your company?
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