So "real" programmers can't dress properly and reject any form of structure?
'Can't' is a strong word, but pretty much.
It's not just a programmer thing. People who are good at anything reject arbitrary structure. If your power is your talent, an organization which assigns power based on anything else is an obstacle for you. Nevertheless, such people can be happy with structure, if it elevates people they consider to be smarter or more capable than they are.
I don't think it's unique to programmers. The only reason why this phenomenon is so pronounced in our world is that we have greater than 10:1 productivity ratios among programmers.
By the way, not following the herd doesn't mean you're just undisciplined. One of the better programmers I've known wore only t-shirts and rarely even wore shoes in the office, and was considered half-impossible to deal with. But, he was actually more aware than the rest of us about how the whole organization ran, politically, and when he did make concessions, his managers felt like they had succeeded. Of course, you have to be insanely productive to get away with this, so it's not for everyone.
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So "real" programmers can't dress properly and reject any form of structure?
'Can't' is a strong word, but pretty much.
It's not just a programmer thing. People who are good at anything reject arbitrary structure. If your power is your talent, an organization which assigns power based on anything else is an obstacle for you. Nevertheless, such people can be happy with structure, if it elevates people they consider to be smarter or more capable than they are.
I don't think it's unique to programmers. The only reason why this phenomenon is so pronounced in our world is that we have greater than 10:1 productivity ratios among programmers.
By the way, not following the herd doesn't mean you're just undisciplined. One of the better programmers I've known wore only t-shirts and rarely even wore shoes in the office, and was considered half-impossible to deal with. But, he was actually more aware than the rest of us about how the whole organization ran, politically, and when he did make concessions, his managers felt like they had succeeded. Of course, you have to be insanely productive to get away with this, so it's not for everyone.
True, programmers, scientists, musicians and other artists good enough to get paid for their work, anyone like that has little need for suits.
But while I know shoeless programmers I don't look up to them for their inability to cope with shoes.
A suit is one thing, looking like a hobo another.