creativity wins everytime
Just a quick comment..
The more sausage-factory-like you make a development environment, the less likely you are to get truely creative developers working for you.
I've turned down a job at adobe after looking in a little more depth at how much of an individually meaningless brick I would become in an ever increasingly sized wall.
Not for me. I, like many people crave the creativity of developer roles. Whilst the non-standardness maybe be a problem for some employers, it is the flexible approach of start-ups where the job satisfaction really is.
I also note that there is no excuse for shoddy workmanship, from people in my role, or any other. If im working on something that has to be secure or conform to any set of rules, then I will make sure it gets done, or highlight any problems well in advance as clearly as I possibly can. I won't rip you off because I'm proud of my work, but if you treat me like an interchangable component then I am more likely to behave like one (eg., less loyalty to employer).
Developers are not all cowboys, but neither do many of them want to be merely making sausages in the factory line.
Start-ups is where the job satisfaction is at, and where the creation happens, and the rules are more lax. And I like it that way.
Anyone else?
(Sorry if this isnt entirely relevant to the whole article)