Why Hackers?
… and why do we keep mentioning this seemingly obscure to most outsiders group of … coders?
Importantly, why do leading technology companies like Google and Netflix invest heavily in attracting and fostering real hackers and genuine Hacker Culture? The answer lies in the unique value that hackers bring to an organization, transforming it into an innovation powerhouse.
Hackers generate untold value through their innate abilities and passion, driving growth and success for companies. In contrast, organizations that rely solely on conventional approaches blatantly struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of change in today's competitive market.
Every day, we see examples of small, agile teams of hackers disrupting industries and creating groundbreaking solutions. Meanwhile, large outsourcing conglomerates, despite their vast resources, struggle to produce the same level of innovation and instead make headlines for their failures and mishaps (such as the Boeing 737 incidents).
We encourage you to fact-check and explore the benefits of embracing Hacker Culture within your organization, and experience the transformative power of innovation it can bring.
A special treat:
A revealing insight from, arguably, one of the top technology investment firms highlights the importance of adhering to hacker culture principles when selecting potential tech investments. This analysis underscores the vital role hackers play in ensuring the success of these ventures:
1. Agility and adaptability: Hackers are known for their ability to quickly adapt to new challenges and technologies. This agility enables companies to stay ahead of the competition and respond effectively to emerging market trends.
2. Creative problem-solving: Hackers have a unique approach to problem-solving that involves experimenting, iterating, and learning from failure. This mindset promotes continuous innovation and drives the development of cutting-edge products and services.
3. Collaborative culture: Hackers thrive in collaborative environments where knowledge and ideas are openly shared. This fosters a culture of cooperation and synergistic teamwork, allowing companies to leverage the collective intelligence of their employees.
4. Customer-centric approach: Hackers are focused on creating value for end-users, often prioritizing user experience and functionality. This customer-centric mindset helps companies develop products and services that truly resonate with their target audience.
5. Security and resilience: With their deep understanding of potential vulnerabilities and threats, hackers can help companies build secure and resilient systems that protect sensitive data and maintain uptime during cyberattacks.
6. Resourcefulness and efficiency: Hackers are known for their ability to find creative and efficient solutions to complex problems, often using minimal resources. This resourcefulness can lead to cost savings and streamlined operations for technology companies.
7. Continuous learning and improvement: Hackers embody a growth mindset and are committed to lifelong learning. This focus on continuous improvement helps companies stay current with the latest technologies and industry best practices.
Doesn’t this read like an expensive regurgitation of the Hacker Culture Wikipedia page? By requiring hackers into their workforce, leading technology companies harness the benefits of this unique mindset and the resulting skill sets, positioning themselves for success in the competitive technology landscape and reducing risk on investment.
Who are Hackers - a first person perspective?
As a hacker myself, I can say that we are professionals who are passionate about our craft. Contrary to popular culture and Hollywood portrayals, we are not a subculture but a culture with various subcultures. Many books, such as "Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World" and "The Cuckoo's Egg," offer only narrow insights into some aspects of our community. Douglas Thomas' "Hacker Culture" provides a more accurate, less sensationalist perspective, although it covers just about 20% of us, missing key influencers and overlooking the fact that we actively distance ourselves from hacker-wannabe criminals like crackers, phreaks, and lamers.
Thomas challenges the stereotype that hackers are outcasts, arguing that this view stems from a fear of technology and the power it grants to those who understand it. However, his portrayal is still incomplete, as it misses a significant portion of the hacker community. Although we represent a small fraction of the software developer pool today, our impact is significant, and we can be found when one knows where to look.
Our kind was once the majority of developers before the offshoring bubble. We were not obscure in the past but rather mainstream, and we continue to be trend setters today. Any perceived obscurity is merely a biased perception among the masses that lag behind the times. In the world of innovation, where technologies like Kubernetes, Kotlin, Python, Domain Modeling, and Machine Learning are essential, hackerdom and the competence it carries are both necessary and expected. Here is a pictorial explanation by Tim Rayner
Eric S. Raymond's "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" is a credible source on our history and jargon and is well-regarded within our community. Ultimately, the best way to truly understand hackers is to become a part of our community — come see for yourselves.
Case Study: A Beautiful Journey
Take a look at this historical journey:
Initially, it's an unsuccessful video-dating website.
The multidisciplinary hacker team pivots, exploring the market to survive.
October 2006: Google acquires YouTube for $1.65 billion.
At the time, YouTube had only 68 employees generating all that value.
November 2006: Google's stock reaches an all-time high, following the acquisition.
What Drives such Success and Why?
To answer these questions, let's compare YouTube's operations, a typical hacker team's operations, and a Laggard's operations, a typical mature health insurance company, for example.
YouTube operated as if a hacker team had just walked in and organized itself. It consisted of a multidisciplinary, transparent, open, flat, and tightly integrated team with three key specializations: entrepreneurial hacker (the vision hacker), business function hacker (the customer hacker), and product behavior hacker (plain code hacker). Organized as peer contributors all members are problem-solvers as exemplified by the Google hands-off management. This structure eliminated the need for excessive management and removes barriers to self-empowerment.
In contrast, a Laggard's operation is siloed, compartmentalized, layered with management verticals, and often political.
The key takeaway is that the operating model is not the primary driver of success; it's a side effect of the underlying Hacker Culture. Imposing this model on a Laggard, like the said insurance company, would likely lead to confusion, resistance, resentment, and even sabotage. Hacker Culture stems from the Hacker Mindset, which is the true source of innovation and success.
Numerous studies have been conducted to understand why Laggards struggle to achieve similar results and what is required for market disruption by a mature company. This research has led to an abundance of information on manifestations of Hacker Culture, such as the Agile Manifesto, rewritten innate hacker norms for easy consumption by the lifer herds of corporate America employees. However, observing Laggards attempting to adopt Agile can be disheartening. In defeatist state of mind focused on procedures instead of root causes the people miss asking themselves the critical questions: “why are we Laggards to begin with”, and “how do we continue to exist tomorrow”?
Evidently, hacker team formations aren't for everyone. Laggards will “do Agile” instead of “becoming Agile” and never get any wiser - pay for the former organizational development services over and over again.
So, then why do we harp on coaching?
About Your Journey
We've provided you with all the information needed to succeed entirely on your own just by following our open guides. However, few people ever do, regardless of source and quality of guides, mainly because the other side of the coin involves hard work in pursuit of objectivity, competence, and self-empowerment. While the success stories we've mentioned paint an appealing picture, it's essential to recognize the effort required. This is about you, our customer! We've encountered many teams that have independently discovered the journey and succeeded - think of smaller-scale versions of YouTube's story. As the difference between hackers and generics lies in their mindset, anything is possible with determination. Naturally, it is much easier with expert coaching and curated guidance because we know well what good looks like. Over the last 7 (seven) years all our mature company customers have repeatedly failed before hiring ASE to finally succeed quickly and reliably.
Your journey can begin by talking to us. We'll work together to determine if and when you're ready to embark.
We add value by reducing time and cost, easing the pain, providing a safety buffer and "training wheels" (we deliver code alongside your team), bringing expertise and experience, and exposing your champions to the open hacker community - real hackers to help that are normally not attainable by mature businesses due to stigma of association. We help your own champions grow and guide entrepreneurs to master leadership of their self-empowered hacker team.
Our approach might not be drastically different from what you're currently doing. We'll create a sequence of incremental business financial goals, the key performance indicators (KPI), focusing on the bottom line. The difference lies in HOW we do it: instead of doing things to your team, we teach your team to do things for themselves. This involves forming a proper multidisciplinary team capable of self-empowerment.
Each customer creates a private plan, which is continually refined as they progress through their unique journey. We will share knowledge, methods and tools needed for continued growth and improvement. Together we will instill tight feedback and review loop that enables timely and efficient adjustments. On our side, we double-check all roadmap elements using our machine learning human factors analytics platform. We're there for you as long as you need us and as long as we can add value. Our ultimate milestone is when you achieve self-sufficiency and no longer require our services, coaching, mentoring or advice.
We understand that some competitors offer "canned solutions," often from consultancies that aren't hacker-driven themselves. The magic bullet approach. While the idea of purchasing an all-in-one solution might be tempting, we believe that no such solution can possibly exist when key problems are human problems. If it did exist, we would have discovered and shared it long ago. Instead, we rely on a proven approach: mind over matter, focus on objectives, dedication, perseverance, learning from failures, and applying lessons learned. Many tools can assist in the process, including our own and industry’s top AI platforms, but none can replace human knowledge and competence, hard-earned wisdom, hardy effort, and dedication.
Summary
The solution to the challenges discussed lies in a well-known approach. Although it's not a secret, few can execute it independently. We have refined this approach into a science and present it here in accessible, human language.
Vadim Kuhay (rdd13r)
CIO | Principal Coach