When did our industry make the transition to one where foul language, off-colored women-demeaning jokes, and illicit drug glorification became a respectable and celebrated medium for talking about software practices? Did I miss something? Perhaps an announcement or white-paper suggesting the new appropriate way to present to our industry?
I attended the software craftsmanship conference in Chicago in November, and while I enjoyed the conference and found most of the talks very enlightening, I was disappointed with the pervasive lack of professionalism. Apparently the F-bomb is the new vogue for software craftsmanship because it seemed like about every third speaker felt it necessary to scatter it throughout their presentation. Also prolific was the inclusion of hard-core drug references. I didn’t realize that was an important part of software craftsmanship. I recognize that this conference is less formal than some, and a noticeably smaller group than others, but I wasn’t the only one who was dismayed by the nature of some of the talks.
The conference had time allocated for lightning talks, and during a break someone gave a lightning talk on this subject. He talked about the need for professionalism in our industry and lamented the lack of professionalism at the conference. He specifically mentioned an off-colored, demeaning joke made by one of the presenters. After his lightning talk I went to shake his hand and tell him I appreciated his courage to stand up for what he felt was important, but I was surprised and pleased to see that I had to wait in line behind several others who were doing the same.
I realize that I am more sensitive to this sort of thing than some and I recognize that others have a different background than I do and there were many who found no offense in the material. But I wanted to be a voice for those who did. And hopefully someone, somewhere, will see this post and realize as they prepare their presentation that, while there are many who will not find offense in R-Rated material in a conference talk, there are also many who will.
I do feel it is important to maintain a decent level of professionalism in our craft. I hope that this was an anomaly and not the beginning of a new trend.
Jim, I personally use the F-Bomb…a LOT! But when I present at code camps and user groups, I keep it clean. A well placed 4 letter word can add meaningful context to a given statement, but overuse is very annoying and shows lack of intelligence. Still, there are ways to express emotion without resorting to offensive language.
Drug references are never acceptable in my opinion. Personal habits, religion and politics are items that should stay clear of developer targeted sessions unless the topic is related to one or more of those categories.
Demoralizing anyone for gender, race, etc is also a quick way to forfeit your reputation and earn you an idiot achievement.
You’re not alone, Jim.
Thanks Dustin. I appreciate your comments; they underscore that this is not about personal habits but professional standards.
That’s a tough one. I’d really like to see clips before passing judgement on other people. But first, some notes.
I’m for a little colloquialism to break up the monotony of learning, and I also recognise that sometimes special genius comes hand-in-hand with other eccentric traits (Richard Stallman comes to mind, and whom I absolutely respect regardless!)
Furthermore the people I’ve seen succeed most in business are the ones that have mixed colloquialism with professionalism – and also fallen flat on their face with the odd completely inappropriate comment (because that’s what happens), and taken it in stride.
I also think professionalism is a loaded term: used by managers telling cubicle programmers how they better wear a tie and dress shoes “because that’s what professionalism is all about!”, as an instant put-down and shut-down. It has been refreshing the past decade or so to work for companies where the work output and attitude is what is valued above a mere choice in shoes.
With all of that said I don’t want (too many) swear words in a presentation because they’re distracting and silly, nor drug references because it introduces an artificial divide between the presenter and those of us who don’t use drugs (myself include). But I also find it hard to take that extra step and tell them they’re unprofessional / bad people for doing so.
Another thought I had is that people go to a conference with two different mindsets. Some see it as professional networking. Others see it as spending time with potential friends and so are less formal about it.
Cody,
I appreciate your insightful comments. Let me clarify one point. I do not intend to pass judgment on individuals with this post. We all come from different walks of life and for that reason I don’t think any of us are qualified to pass judgment on another. This post is more about what you mentioned at the end of your comment: “introducing an artificial divide between the presenter [and the audience].” And perhaps also about respecting your audience. Although the presenter and a good percentage of the audience may not find offense in certain material, others can; and when that happens the presentation itself looses some of it’s effectiveness for those individuals. I think it’s easy for a presenter to be unaware of this because people don’t tend to voice their offense either out of respect for the presenter or for fear of backlash.
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Professionalism is a nebulous concept, but for me at least, it’s almost entirely down to delivery. If you are delivering quality work on time and on budget then fine; I don’t much care if you choose to wear a pantomime horse costume, have a foul mouth, or work erratic hours (or any other traditional barometer of professionalism). Of course if you are never around to interact with you colleagues, never show up to vital meetings, or render working relationships untenable due to constantly offending people, then that could affect your ability to deliver.
But not all environments are alike, and I would suggest that you need to judge what behaviours are required of you rather than conforming to an arbitrary code(or choosing to enforce it on others). The important client might have rather boring expectations of what gets worn to meetings – but you need to keep them happy, so on goes the suit. Your project requires infrequent collaboration, so feel free to work when / where you like so long as the work gets done and you pop in for any pre agreed meetings.
I’m not sure what demeaning comments have to do with a lack of professionalism. It’s bad form, and not acceptable in either personal or professional contexts.
I don’t get the upset about the drug references either, why do you care what they say they get up to outside of work? Sports / Film / TV / Opera references can exclude people just the same.
Professionals get the job done. How they do it should be up to them.
Let’s talk about the 3 unprofessional actions separately. For dropping F-Bombs or any other swear word during a presentation, why is this considered inappropriate? If someone stubs their toe in public and drops an F-Bomb, is that inappropriate to you? Maybe, maybe not. If it is, ask yourself, “Why is this a bad word to me?” Are they directly insulting, or indirectly insulting, and why do you believe this? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this topic, but I believe no word is bad by itself, but when we take into account the context at which it is said then it is or is not inappropriate.
I agree that overuse of these words can indicate a bad presenter, but I also think that using these at the right times can add some flair or descriptive aspect that engages people. If someone describes an old project they had to work on where the code was one giant clusterf!@#, this allows each listener to imagine the code in their own negative light. At the best case the presenter is only insulting the inanimate object of the code; at the worst case he is insulting the previous developers of the project. But in the context the presenter is speaking, he/she is not intentionally bashing the previous developers. When the presenter says this line, each listener is also becoming more/less engaged based on his/her preference for using swear words in a presentation. It is up to the presenter to know his audience and know whether this has a overall positive effect or negative for people’s engagement.
I personally am glad that the presenter has this freedom, but you have to remember your own freedom. You can always get up and not listen. I would much rather have a presenter have some flair/jokes within a presentation that gives off their own personal way of speaking rather than have them only speak about the dry facts. It is much more engaging to me, and that’s the job of the presenter, to engage me. Everyone will have a different level of engagement, but i am glad these presenters don’t have to cater to the least common denominator (no swearing) anymore for fear of backlash. If you disagree with me, just get up and leave during the presentation, that will visually send a signal to the presenter about your level of engagement. If people do this often, the presenter will think about changing his speaking to engage more people.
As for ‘illicit drug glorification’, I believe it can also has a time and a place within presentations depending on the audience. Presenters also use this tactic at their own peril, as I’m sure a majority of people would question a presenters credibility if he/she kept using metaphors for meth addiction while talking. One question to ask yourself, is when someone talks about illicit drugs, do you not like it because a) the drugs they are talking about are illegal, b) you cannot relate because you haven’t done said drug, or c) it is unprofessional in your eyes (I argue that being professional is determined by society as a whole and not a single person). Each audience member will have a different reaction when the presenter talks about drugs, and if he/she knows the audience, a majority of people will become more engaged. Again you have the right to walk out at anytime.
As for sexist, racist, or other similar types of comments, I agree with you that these have no place in a presentation. These comments have a negative affect on all of the audience, even if they laugh, because it enhances a stereotype the joke/comment is talking about. I would say that these comments really only have one place in society and that would be in a stand-up routine.
When a programmer’s company sends him/her anywhere, then I he/she is an ambassador for that organization. We must represent the knowledge, wisdom, skills, and character of that organization. If we want our company’s reputation to remain in-tact, then it is expected to conduct ourselves like gentlemen or ladies worthy of being sent.
Unfortunately, this is representative of our culture, but I am clearly here to say that as soon as I hear even a genius drop some of the foul language their stock with me drops. I teach my kids that people often times use this language because they feel awkward, ignorant, or scared. I was raised in a culture that freely used foul language, and I found that when entering the work-force all companies worth respecting and honoring with my applying held environments not conducive to my tongue. I adapted, which i think our technical culture needs to do as well.
We here are a community, entering the glorious technology conversation that has preceded almost all of us by decades. We network and gain cards, or virtual info, so that we can later bounce ideas off of one another, and see if other respected people have seen similar issues that we are currently facing. This community is a reflection of the society, but that is no excuse.
As titles go, I am a programmer, father, husband, friend, son, church leader, speaker, and teacher. I respect all of those relationships greatly, and believe myself to hold the same character and professionalism through every hat that I wear. Although far from perfect myself, I hold the thought that if I poorly represent myself other people will think of me as unreliable, foul, and ignorant of how to conduct myself. Today’s programmer or developer, after a few upper-level firings or scandals, can be tomorrow’s upper management or corporate executive. The best 21st Century worker has to conduct themselves with integrity worthy of being hired or contracted.
I don’t intend to sound prude, but at the expense of alienating others I have to point out, I am a conservative programmer and proud of it. They do exist. I honor my positions, family, and organizations that I represent by maintaining a level of professionalism and honor in my daily conduct or conversations. The same desire to hold my tongue comes from a worldview that I hold which also results in less corporate stealing, punctuality, respect, and reliability. This is not a bad thing. You are not alone in thinking that it is unprofessional. Wisdom and grey hair has taught me that to bite my tongue would show the same level of discipline that I need to also fulfill any duties need done for me.
There must be too many “rockstar” developers in the industry that think that they have earned that title which permits them to start acting like a rockstar and get high and curse all the time. As if they are so good at programming that they can do it at an unconscious level and not bother ever being sober.
Well said. I’ve been thinking the same recently. I work in software development for a financial organization. The people at the top acknowledge that “the edge lies in technology” and the “people with IT skills have the most potential to add value to the organization in the future”. Yet, no one from IT gets invited to board meetings. In our offices, which department sits in the basement? It’s always IT, of course. Yet, these are some of the most highly qualified and intelligent people in the company. I have to conclude that IT doesn’t get a say when it comes to major decisions simply because of the lack of professionalism. People in IT constantly dress, talk and behave less professionally than the rest of the organization, so no one takes them as seriously as they would otherwise deserve.