Your negative stereotypes about developers ('revered for centuries', 'holier than thou', 'two way street', 'functional programming in Erlang,' etc.) are making it hard for you to address parent's core points.
The point is that there are plenty of developers who are SO concerned with technical matters to the exclusion of all else that they make it difficult for business leaders to interact with them, especially when they are the ones perpetuating negative stereotypes about business leaders. Now obviously I'm not referring to all developers, but if you can't acknowledge the existence, even prevalence, of the mindset I am referring to, I would argue that you are very naive or have led a very sheltered life.
Unfortunately this stuff DOES happen, and there IS an asymmetry of respect - whether you recognize it or not - and you don't propose any real solution. You just throw it all back on the developer. It's all the fault of stupid, bad developers who do not respect business enough. No, sorry, that is simply not true.
Your hypothetical "pollution expert" is more likely to be a consultant hired to solve a short-term problem, from what I've seen, so that's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. Nonetheless, the lack of willingness of (some) developers to be proactive and make an effort to understand more about the businesses they work in, and their lack of desire to learn to communicate with the business leaders in their language, IS damaging. And I'm not saying anything like "It's all the fault of stupid, bad developers..." That's either hyperbole on your part, of you totally misunderstood what I said. FFS, I am a developer, and I hate that so many business people are as clueless as they are about technology. Nonetheless, I stand by what I said before:
If WE want business to be out outlet for creative expression (as opposed to working as pure artisans funded by patrons or some other alternative) then there are compromises we have to be willing to make.
But that isn't an excuse for silencing experts or characterizing people who complain about expert-silencing as holier-than-thou techno wizards who think everyone else is brainless sheep.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I'm in favor of silencing experts, but that's totally wrong. I would never advocate that. But, again, the very best decision from one specific point of view might not be the best possible decision from the point of view of the businesses as a whole.
'two way street'
How is insisting that communications and respect requires a "two way street" anything negative??
In short, you seem to be all about developers being wrong and managers being right here and it comes across as condescending.
I never said that managers are always right, or that developers are always wrong. And if I am being condescending, it's towards one certain class of developers (of which I used to be one) - the ones who are "holier than thou" and who don't understand that the technical artifacts they are building are not an end unto themselves and who walk around insulting the executives for being "brainless suits" and who don't want to hear anything about how a business actually works. To those people, I offer no apology whatsoever, and would add "grow the fuck up".
The point is that there are plenty of developers who are SO concerned with technical matters to the exclusion of all else that they make it difficult for business leaders to interact with them, especially when they are the ones perpetuating negative stereotypes about business leaders. Now obviously I'm not referring to all developers, but if you can't acknowledge the existence, even prevalence, of the mindset I am referring to, I would argue that you are very naive or have led a very sheltered life.
Unfortunately this stuff DOES happen, and there IS an asymmetry of respect - whether you recognize it or not - and you don't propose any real solution. You just throw it all back on the developer. It's all the fault of stupid, bad developers who do not respect business enough. No, sorry, that is simply not true.
Your hypothetical "pollution expert" is more likely to be a consultant hired to solve a short-term problem, from what I've seen, so that's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. Nonetheless, the lack of willingness of (some) developers to be proactive and make an effort to understand more about the businesses they work in, and their lack of desire to learn to communicate with the business leaders in their language, IS damaging. And I'm not saying anything like "It's all the fault of stupid, bad developers..." That's either hyperbole on your part, of you totally misunderstood what I said. FFS, I am a developer, and I hate that so many business people are as clueless as they are about technology. Nonetheless, I stand by what I said before:
If WE want business to be out outlet for creative expression (as opposed to working as pure artisans funded by patrons or some other alternative) then there are compromises we have to be willing to make.
But that isn't an excuse for silencing experts or characterizing people who complain about expert-silencing as holier-than-thou techno wizards who think everyone else is brainless sheep.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I'm in favor of silencing experts, but that's totally wrong. I would never advocate that. But, again, the very best decision from one specific point of view might not be the best possible decision from the point of view of the businesses as a whole.
'two way street'
How is insisting that communications and respect requires a "two way street" anything negative??
In short, you seem to be all about developers being wrong and managers being right here and it comes across as condescending.
I never said that managers are always right, or that developers are always wrong. And if I am being condescending, it's towards one certain class of developers (of which I used to be one) - the ones who are "holier than thou" and who don't understand that the technical artifacts they are building are not an end unto themselves and who walk around insulting the executives for being "brainless suits" and who don't want to hear anything about how a business actually works. To those people, I offer no apology whatsoever, and would add "grow the fuck up".