I suppose I hadn’t thought about it too much, but when a colleague and I were having lunch, it became crystal clear: There are fewer and fewer good analysts around. I gave it more thought and realized that, really, there are very few quality information technology(IT) resources, period. My colleague attributed this lack of good people to high demand that simply can’t be met within the workforce. While that probably has something to do with it, I also think that in today’s wider culture, words have become over-valued. This over-valuation has allowed people who can speak “techo-babble” but can’t follow up with actions that produce results.
Not sure if anybody else uses the term, techno-babble, but over my thirty (30) years career implementing IT solutions, I’ve become quite familiar with it. I started using that term after hearing someone complain about “psycho-babble.” I was at a dinner party the first time I heard psycho-babble used. A woman was complaining to her friend about how her husband appeared to be transferring his issues with his mother onto her. She went on to use “projecting” and other terms that may come up in the course of a counseling session. Finally, after listening, her friend’s husband arose from his seat and said, “I can’t take anymore of this damn psycho-babble. I’m getting a drink.”
I’ve heard people using “psycho-babble” a whole mess of times since then. The thing is, people within the IT field throw around jargon in a similar way. I’ve come to think of that jargon as “techno-babble.” The difference between “psycho-babble” and “techno-babble” is that more people tend to understand psycho-babble but can’t base their careers on it. For example, while that woman used “transferring”and “projecting” correctly, she probably couldn’t become a counselor or therapist just because she knows how to use words correctly. She would need to provide evidence of education, licensure, and supervised clinical practice that could prove that she is qualified.
However, when it comes to IT, all too often, if someone knows how to use obscure IT jargon more often than not, someone could manage to fool people into thinking he or she is qualified to hold an IT gig. For example, if that woman was using words like “data adaptors” or “use cases,” she could easily fool people into thinking that she’s knowledgeable about all things IT. The reality is that the average person doesn’t know IT jargon and often stops listening when techno-babble starts getting thrown around. The problem with that is, even people within the IT field don’t understand various forms of techno-babble.
For example, if a hiring manager has spent his life as a database administrator, then there’s a pretty good chance that he hasn’t ever completed a detailed requirement gathering session and probably doesn’t know how to evaluate use cases. And the reverse is probable also true.
The solution is to standardize technology training and devise a real licensure program for IT resources. Until then, I fear we may all be at the mercy of techno-babble spewing people who’ve never really proven that they can actually do things.
