Elite Thinking 14

[Onyxpurr]

Okay, I admit the title is a little too much, but here's my question:

I was just reading an article about the IB (honors) students being a bit snobbish to the regular students at high schools. I couldn't help but compare this to IT professionals and our customers.

I must admit I've fallen into this thinking in the past before. I lose my patience, start calling my users "ID-10-Ts" and so forth. Even most (if not all) of my IT co-workers suffer from this mentality.

So my first questions, is why do we fall into this mentality in the first place?

Second, is how do we keep our patience and cool and be as respectful to out customers (behind their backs and in front of them)?

 

[benlinkknilneb]

Our elitism stems from our problem-solving ability and/or tendency. You and I, the IT types, see an error message and we wonder why. We debug it. The typical user isn't concerned with why it fails. They really just don't care. All they want is for the program to work so that they can get something done. So they call us.

Perhaps rather than dealing with system failures all the time, we should turn our search inward. If I design a system that ONLY does it one way, and makes it explicit that it can only be done one way (e.g. Flash the "doofus" message when you try to do B,A,C instead of A,B,C), users in general can follow that. Sure, you'll get the occasional CD-ROM/cupholder type, but if the system only allows one way through the process, they'll have to do it right.

I know there are some things that can't be simplified to this point... but I can make it as minimal as possible with just a little extra work. The .dll problem mentioned above might have been solved using some sort of installation procedure. Yeah, Setup.exe is probably a bit of overkill for 1 .exe and 1 .dll, but when you're dealing with someone who's not familiar with the reasons you have to extract both files, just do it for them somehow.

My favorite part of programming/IT is when someone sees something and says "how the heck did you get it to do that?!" I usually just grin and say "Magic."

Ben

There's no place like 127.0.0.1.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I wonder if grinning and saying "Magic" does not contribute to the elistist thinking. We're not magicians, and it's not magic.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Tarwn]

But then most other approaches are seen as elitist as well:
a) "Magic!" - this one is obvious
b) Here's how it works in simple terms - oh, so now I'm just a dumb user?
c) Here's the intricate details - eyes glaze over, he/she's just trying to impress me with their amazing knowledge

I don't see a simple approach to this. I think the majority of users expect it to be a simple answer:
I simply typed "Stop popping up that error message"
when instead the reality is that occasionally solving their errors requires real work. Just as I couldn't run the paper machine or design an aircraft, users generally can't do what I do, but for some reason that makes me elitist?

I think what it boils down to is that users are used to using computers and software that have been designed for their uses (some better than others). So when they interact with a computer it is speaking their language and it is fairly easy for them to do what they want to do. The assumption then becomes, if I can do task "a" with the computer, it can't be much harder to make the computer software that allows me to do task "a" because it's so darn easy for me to do it.

Then again, look at an aircraft designer and an aircraft pilot, I am sure the same issues will come up, but in their case the field is much more specialized (ie, a much smaller percent of the population is aircraft pilots than computer users). I think the same elitist/non-elitist issues arise between any designer/developer and tool user, it's just that in our case our tools are used far more widely (and don't require a lixense to operate ).

-T

[sub]01000111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01000011 01101111 01100110 01100110 01100101 01100101 00111111[/sub]
The never-completed website:

http://www.tiernok.com/

 

[benlinkknilneb]

I try to use it sparingly, Cajun, and in a way that they'll understand I'm just joking. But I'm not about to TRY to explain to Joe User how I used an ODBC driver to connect Lotus Notes to MSAccess. He'd be unconscious within 3 seconds flat, and I'd have wasted my breath explaining something that he won't understand.

Ben

There's no place like 127.0.0.1.

 

[CajunCenturion]

That's not what I meant Ben. On the one exteme you risk coming off a flippant, and on the other, condescending, neither of which is beneficial.

You find the middle groud, which as Tarwn admits is not always that easy.

I found a way to connect the databases so we could do it that way.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[DoubleD]

I think communication is the biggest problem we face as IT professionals.
I started out in data entry seven years ago and have been in 7 different departments during that time. (I get bored easily.) It helped me understand the business much better. I've done support and development for my company.
Development:
Noone teaches the users how to define what it is they need from their application, and noone teaches IT professionals how to listen to the users to get at what they really mean.
Often we fulfill user requirements exactly as they are stated. The challenge is to work with our users to better understand what they need, then get as close to that as we can.
Support:
Patience is virtue. Explaining why you're asking certain questions sometimes helps the users feel you don't consider them stupid. And finding the fine line between brief high level explanation of what went wrong versus the techie detail that most users won't understand.

Pain is stress leaving the body.

DoubleD

 

[PTina]

As an IT professional, you have to be just that: professional. That being said I don't know if it is possible to remove the human element of being frustrated sometimes, although I don't believe this frustration should be taken out on the users.

Take this peculiar cases where a user, who was continually in training for the same module bursting into tears at every turn. Now how do you deal with something like that? This particular user was from the old school and was terrified of technology. Nothing worked - have the training performed by different persons, changing the format of the training, nothing. I just don't think she had the aptitude to grasp it and had to eventually suggest that someone else from that office be trained to use the system.

Another scenario, a user has the aptitude but, hey why do it when I can call IT to do it for me? This type of user I had to handle firmly, otherwise I would never get anything else accomplished.

Overall I agree that you have to respect your users and act professionally at all times. I try, where possible, to learn the unique personalities of each user and make adjustments in terms of how I deal with them.

 

[willir]

I missed this post when it was conceived.

I agree with SQLSister (Jan 16/04) posting and others. But DoubleD has a good point too...

From my perception, to rephrase, summerize and add to...

- Remember that the computer is a tool, and not a magic black box. Granted, it can be a highly effective tool, but this does not mean that "we" IT folks should assume we are at the top of the pecking ladder. (Recent off-shore outsourcing trends shows that we are expendable)

- Skill set. Some of us are good at certain things and perhaps lousey or ignorant at others. I have worked with engineers that can work out brilliant solutions on paper but still can not change their password -- very X number of days ... here we go again. To refer to those who may have a hard time working with computers is disrespectful of their over skills.

- Culture. Language, ethnicity, age, geographic location are all barriers that need to be removed from the equation -- this can be a very hard task (perhaps nearly impossible to totally eliminate, but let's make it smaller). However, to make fun of someone who speaks with an accent, or have unusual manners may be counter productive. For example, the person may speak five languages, but they speak English with an accent. Who is being the fool if you are critical of them, especially if you only speak one language.

- Communication. This ties in with culture, but it goes further in some areas. We have to communicate with each other in order to work with each other. When a tech talks to an end user, they have to use a language that the end user understands - they have to add relavence. When one person has a strong accent, they will have to try to immerse themselves better - however, this does not mean the person who is having a hard time understanding should be dismissive.

- Cooperate and be flexible. Know thy self, know thy teammates and know thy user. Providing support requires team work from all. I feel nothing creates disfunctional units faster than the failure to wanting to communicate. The network admin to be dismissive of the desktop support person; the DBA to be dismissive of the end user. Communication involves listening as well as taalking. Wearing teflon suits to deflect problems may defer the problem to some one else but it does not solve the problem. Cooperation, flexibility and understanding is a much better lubricant. Remember, the comnputer is just a tool.

On this note, Tarwin gives a great story about the Sales Rep not installing a DLL file with the EXE file for an applicaiton. From the perspective of the programmer, the Sales person need to acknowledge the fact that a lot of hours went into the product. Firing off a bug report without following through and reading the installation instructions can be considered incompetance by some or counter-productive by others. However, you need your sales guys and gals to peddle the software, and the aptitude and skill set requried sell software can be different than programming.

From the perspective of the sales rep, his / her first thoughts may have been similar to the programmer but for different reasons - incompetant programmer. BUT both the Sales Rep and the Programmer are missing the point. Blaming each other for problems does not solve the problem and does not sell software. Working together and looking for solutions is much more productive.

- Be professional. We are here to do a job, and we need to be objective about the task.

...Next!

 

[KornGeek]

I don't believe that this problem is specific to IT professionals. We have a salesman at our company who often makes rude comments about customers, and I'm frequently reminding him that this attitude shows to them, even if he doesn't make the comments in front of them.

I have seen the same issue in retail, in sports, various classes, etc. When people share common knowledge and get used to interacting with others who share this knowledge, it becomes easy to look down upon those who don't have it. To us, the information is old and basic, and we have moved on to bigger and more exciting things. To others, this information is new and challenging. This doesn't make one person smarter than another, just more experienced in one branch of knowledge.

One of my close friends knows nothing about programming and basic pc hardware and contacts me with his questions. In turn, I contact him with my questions on routers, servers, and networks (which are NOT my specialty). Our questions often seem basic to each other, but we're grounded by the fact that we each take turns being the "dummy".

 

[Katy44]

willir, I gave you the star for your post - I am so quick to get bogged down in minor details and petty annoyances that I forget that the whole point is to work together to solve problems! That is what I am paid for, and what I enjoy more than any other part of my job.

 

[hthb]

You have asked a question which is difficult to answer. This is a problem which every human being suffers from. I must praise you for trying to address the issue, most people wouldn't even care. There is no easy way to get rid of this behavior as it is something that just is in our genes.
I have heard this discussed before in books which are about meditation and that sort of things. Maybe you should try to distance yourself from the moment and see it objectively.

The guy who's asking might be a rocket scientist but still have problems with the floppy disk!

Just my 50 cents. Good luck.

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[Albion]

So my first questions, is why do we fall into this mentality in the first place?

Because it's human nature to want to be better. Look at any type of competition, how many people do you know who compete to lose? No one, we all compete to win. and what does winning mean... it means that you are better/more powerful/higher ranking then the loser.

Second, is how do we keep our patience and cool and be as respectful to out customers (behind their backs and in front of them)?

That's called self-control. But honestly this happens in every profession. You don't think there are accountants out there who say stuff like, "God that guy couldn't balance a pair of quarters much less his checkbook, what an idiot?" Or an auto mechanic who says, "How stupid can you be that you don't know how to change your own oil?"

But computers are what I call a super elite profession…

See we live in a media based society. This means that most people out there believe not only what they see on the news and in newspapers but also what they see in movies and on TV. They really believe that some 21 year old kid can hack into the traffic system with a few keystrokes and raise havoc with traffic as seen in The Italian Job. Honestly if this were true why haven't we seen this happen? So given the fact that some 15 year old can cause a nuclear war, the mob (majority public) raises the computer industry to super elite status. This high status gives many computer people the idea that they can take advantage of it; thus those who would make everyone who doesn't know as much as they do about computers feel stupid. I do love <beep>ing with the guys who work at Best Buy though, they sure think they know their <beep>.

Personally, like most Europeans with their language, I like to see people using computers and enjoying them. So I am more apt to get them involved in a situation then to just fix it and let them go on their way. But to some it's just their way of playing the Joneses game, "I'm better then you because I know computers and you don't. Worship me now!"

-Al

 

[Ddraig]

Well I just discovered this post and it relates to what I feel I've gotten myself into. I have found myself more and more looking down upon users, I don't like it and I try not to. It usually occurs when I am talking with other co-workers in my filed and just as an example. Getting a phone call where someone needs help, but they're not at their computer so I can't really do anything. Maybe its a lack of common sense that a computer tech would need you to be at the computer to fix it over the phone? Although I would say that my primary concern is with management the general IT atmosphere and the individuals in IT, which I think contribute towards elitism regarding end users. (They have a tendancy to set a policy one week, bend it for another group another week, then totally ignore the police the week after.)

I try my best to explain things to certain users that will understand, and others that I can play it off but I'm at the point now where I think I can stop it before its too late. Sometimes I feel like I'm coming off to users and others as elitist because I'm not a very talkative person, I don't generally "chit chat" and if I do its about the day's work. People will crack jokes sometimes I laugh others I don't. I don't know if it is because I have a different sense of humour. (Maybe being British in an American environment is why?) One thing that I don't like is when users will put themselves down, and I really can't think of anything to say to them to reassure them it isn't them that is causing the problem. Especially when you don't know the cause of a problem. Another example would be unskilled IT personnel. Our lead Systems Analysts (Not really programmers in the true sense of the term) had developed a feature to upload PDF documents to a web database or what little do I know about it. Apparently they had been trying this with an end user and the user couldn't get the file to upload at all. System Analyst went through and checked everything she said it wouldn't work on the person's PC for them either, but when she went to a different one it did work. So I got the problem, we have a tendency in our department more so these days rather than to troubleshoot the problem just to replace the PC, and I didn't feel that it really need this. So I did some troubleshooting of my own with what little knowledge I had of this web interface. I couldn't figure it out either so I went to another one of our analysts and asked them to check a few things on the network perhaps upload a test. To make a long story short we figured out that the lead analyst sent the person the wrong link, to the development site (which didn't work) instead of the live site. I am guessing this was because of an oversight and just a goof up, but I'm concerned that when I informed them of the problem I came across as making them feel stupid? I'm terrible at reading people, so I guess I'm asking does anyone have any advice, or things that they do in practical situations?

Thanks,
Dd.

 

[Onyxpurr]

I think part of my problem is that I'm constantly bombarded by my users with comments like guru, wizard, amazing, she can do anything. Which granted is good and flattering, but sometimes I think I get a big head because of it.

I hear you about users putting themselves down. I always try to say politely things like:
1) No question is stupid
2) Hey, I've made that mistake before
3) I didn't do it alone / couldn't have done it without you
4) That's an excellent question to ask
5) We've all had issues with that before