Like a good crew developers like what we do.  A happy ship means we work for a Captain who’s mission we believe in, or at least benefits us.  We like to be productive and feel like we are making a difference, so we gravitate to leaders that push us.  We want the Captain we follow to be successful.  That’s good job security.

Good Captains realize that rest and play are important and there are things in life other than work.  That’s why they give us time to carouse in port and healthy rations of grog. Good development managers give us a say in the choice of architectures and tools. They recognize that we need to continually learn new technology and give us the leeway to do so.

Good tech recruiters tell us a bit about what we’re going to build, what technology decisions have already been made, and what decisions we will have a hand in.

Good HR managers do well to keep us happy and healthy, and resolve conflicts with management.

But remember – the company’s responsibility is profitability.  It has to be, else it won’t be a company for long. In fact, the company is responsible to us to maintain profitability.  It may have loftier goals, but if it doesn’t manage profitability, everyone suffers.

Human (and Non-Human) Resources is the one area where we are always at odds with our Captains.  We want our share of the booty, and the Captain wants to fund more ships to plunder merchantmen loaded with wealth.

This tension is good, and although recruiters want to create a better supply of able talent, which we know that be a downward force on wages, we recognize that a growing ecosystem is good for job security, and may, in fact, create a “rising tide”.

To do our part, we’ve created an exclusive event to help bring together willing crews and able Captains.  I beseech you to register for HackerWhy, lest you regret your short-sighted denial or willful ignorance of these truths.