Programmer is not factory worker!

I am always proud to tell people that I am a software programmer, simply because a programmer's job required frequent exercise of both right and left brain. They constantly required to transforming abstract idea into concrete implementation. It's a job that would require both art and science skill. Hence it's not something that anybody could easily perform.

However, most of the software programmers are badly underrated; they are treated like a factory worker. It is not a surprise that most business people believe 10 inexperience programmers will always 10 times better than 1 experience programmer. So when they are looking at how to cut operation cost, they go all the way to create off-shore development centre. This is similar to manufacturers who setup factory at places where salary is lower.

Wait a second! Am I contradicting myself here? If every programmer is smart, then what is wrong with the off-shore development centre? When they are equally smart and lower cost, isn't simple math and economy suggests we should all do that?

Don't get me wrong, I am not against the idea of off-shore development centre. It makes perfect sense for any business to seek every opportunity to lower down their operation cost. What I am trying to say is, while the action has a valid reason, one must know the goal and core principle. I have seen such action give birth to certain mind-set that back-fire on the business themselves

1. Off-shore programmer, they are pay less, hence they are less smart. We cannot trust them with important task!
- This is a very common assumption in this whole off-shore development game, the result is, most inexperience programmer will end up transforming themselves into what other perceive them to be, they become/behave like factory worker. It is largely due to they are not empowered or being encouraged to be autonomy. They work like a machine operator and required high precision of instructions to produce a good outcome.

2. Communication with the off-shore developers will not be a problem since we have comprehensive documentation!
- There are still many people who believe in this statement. Most of them are experience and senior "management" level. They believe that document is a good and efficient way of communication. They truly believe that long distance communication challenges could be resolved easily using specification documents, email and min phone call. Although majority of them have participated the Chinese whispers game when they attended communication training.

I am supporting the idea to recruit developers from foreign country, but you may want to bring them to your work place so they can be co-located with the users. This will allow them to use the most effective communication tool "face-to-face" when come to understanding the requirement. On top of that, give them the equal respect as you will give to any professional. They are smart people!