DaedTech

Celebrating Software as a Tactic, Not a Profession

As you may recall, a few weeks back, I offered the hypothesis that software is a business tactic, rather than a profession.  My main purpose in writing that post was to level set a bit with my desired direction for the blog, leaning toward an increase emphasis on reader questions.  And, you all immediately obliged, so thanks for that!

So, I’ll start by responding to people’s questions/reactions to that post, both in comments and through other media.  The follow-up questions/thoughts that I’ll address fall largely into 2 buckets:

1. How do you reconcile “software as a business tactic” with “software as an end,” particularly an aesthetic one, such as with video games?
2. Maybe software is a business tactic and isn’t currently a profession, but why shouldn’t it be?

Number (1) is easier and chronologically first, so let’s do that.

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Those Who Can’t, Sell Tutorials on How You Can

I have a vision for what I want DaedTech (and myself) never to be.  I never want to have the “I made it, and so can you by following these [N] easy steps!” vibe, in any way.  If you ever catch me doing that, please gather with your pitchforks and storm my gate.

Here’s the thing.  Success is hard, specific, and custom to your own context.  But a lot of people don’t let that stop them from hawking it in $99 info products.

Fake It ’til You Make It… as an Expert?

I’m about to describe what I think of as an anti-pattern in the knowledge economy.  You’ve probably experienced this at least subconsciously, if you haven’t yet learned to actively recognize it.

This crystallized in my head recently when I signed up for something called “The Dynamite Circle” (it’s a community for established digital nomad-leaning entrepreneurs).  I was poking around and noticed this blog post, with a couple of great turns of phrase.

In describing a pre-quit-your-job, would-be lifestyle designer, they said:

You are buying products from blogs that make a little money on how to make a little money with your blog.

That produced almost a spit take from me, because I can picture this exact thing.  And so, probably, can you.  It has:

• An oversize photo of the site proprietor smiling maniacally
• Some polished-but-somehow-budget graphics
• The typical “hero journey” landing page layout
• And assurances that you, too, can make money through affiliate marketing, quit your job, and earn passively on a beach in Bali.

But, if you dig into any of the public metrics around the site, you see that it’s getting very little traffic.  What you’ve really got here is someone writing blog posts from a cubicle on their lunch break about how you can follow their lead to a beach in Bali.

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Software Development is a Business Tactic, Not a Profession

Any regular followers of DaedTech may have noticed that I’ve dropped off the map of late with new content.  Now, before I go any further, please understand that I’m not petering out with content, holistically.

I think you’ll pry my (metaphorical) pen from my cold dead hands.  I can’t not write.

But the break here is semi-intentional.  I say “semi”, because it started with me not having time to post one week, and then realizing that I wasn’t overly excited about any of the content I was queuing up.  This led to an unannounced decision to take some time off and gather my thoughts about what I want to address on this blog.

Don’t worry.

I’ll get to a justification of my premise that software development isn’t a profession.  But that operating thesis is fundamentally inextricable from my background and my current wrestling with topics.

A Brief History of DaedTech

I won’t make this section a long, self-indulgent tour of my life.  Rather, here’s a quick-hitter history of how the subject matter here has evolved on this blog over the last decade.

• Early-DaedTech: I was a line level programmer (mostly .NET).  So I wrote about .NET programming topics, office politics, and general programmer life.
• Mid-DaedTech: I was in leadership and starting to side hustle.  Here, I trained .NET/Java devs, so those topics remained, but topics about business/leadership/hustle started to displace them.
• Recent-DaedTech: I was an IT Management Consultant.  At this point, granular tech topics dropped off the map, and everything started to be about free agency, career, and hustling.

Which brings me to today.

• Today: I run a tech-serving a content marketing business.  So, yeah…

The Topical Conundrum

Whether I’ve written with some broader purpose in mind, or just written about whatever strikes my fancy, I’ve always drawn topic inspiration from my day-to-day work.  And this made for relevant content in the tech world, since my journey was IC software developer –> IT leader –> (software) strategy consultant.

But as what I’m doing is increasingly about running a growing business and marketing, a gulf is emerging.  Certainly, readership of this blog has evolved over the years, with those most interested in my early .NET unit testing how-tos dropping off, and more folks interested in freelancing stopping by.  But I now face an interesting conundrum.

• I could start to write about the trials and travails of being an executive at a growing, tech-facing marketing business.  But this would probably create a complete audience overhaul, and, l like writing about the software world.
• Or, I could keep writing about the things I wrote about as a software developer/leader/trainer.  But the day to day of that recedes further in my rearview mirror all the time.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I still write code and have opinions about software.  I still occasionally consult on codebase assessments.  I’m not worried that I’ll become technically illiterate or something.

What I’m worried about is writing about the industry more as an antiseptic observer than as a participant.  I’m worried that an increasing number of posts I might write would invite declarations of “easy for you to say!”

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