Developer Hegemony: The Future of Labor
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- Create Date：2021-08-02 09:53:30
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Erik Dietrich
- ISBN：0692866809
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
It's been said that software is eating the planet。 The modern economy-the world itself-relies on technology。 Demand for the people who can produce it far outweighs the supply。 So why do developers occupy largely subordinate roles in the corporate structure？ Developer Hegemony explores the past， present， and future of the corporation and what it means for developers。 While it outlines problems with the modern corporate structure， it's ultimately a play-by-play of how to leave the corporate carnival and control your own destiny。 And it's an emboldening， specific vision of what software development looks like in the world of developer hegemony-one where developers band together into partner firms of "efficiencers，" finally able to command the pay， respect， and freedom that's earned by solving problems no one else can。 Developers， if you grow tired of being treated like geeks who can only be trusted to take orders and churn out code， consider this your call to arms。 Bring about the autonomous future that's rightfully yours。 It's time for developer hegemony。
Reviews
Bogdan
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Very interesting book。 Other perspective on things。
Igor Soroka
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Great book！ Very entertaining。
Tiago Massoni
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First part is fun and promising。 Rest of it gets into a self help mood， I don’t like。
Paul
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Not sure taking his "be a consultant" advice is possible or even relevant to all knowledge workers - and I believe there are some gross oversimplifications of corporate culture here - but still a valuable read for many of us big company drones。 Not sure taking his "be a consultant" advice is possible or even relevant to all knowledge workers - and I believe there are some gross oversimplifications of corporate culture here - but still a valuable read for many of us big company drones。 。。。more
Kevinch417
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This is definitely a polemic so of course you need to read it with an open mind and keep the biases the author has in the back of your mind。 Some reviewers didn't like the simplification of pragmatists/idealists/opportunists in the corporate structure and also found it too cynical， however I found that the grouping into those three tiers was described very well。 The book does very well in summarizing the bad things about corporate culture and might feel you leaving a little in the dumps before i This is definitely a polemic so of course you need to read it with an open mind and keep the biases the author has in the back of your mind。 Some reviewers didn't like the simplification of pragmatists/idealists/opportunists in the corporate structure and also found it too cynical， however I found that the grouping into those three tiers was described very well。 The book does very well in summarizing the bad things about corporate culture and might feel you leaving a little in the dumps before it switches to a very optimistic idea of where Mr。 Dietrich thinks things will and/or should go。 I don't necessarily agree with his proposal， or definitely his terminology of "efficiencers"， but hey， with a book like this， you need to come up with your own signature term for your idea， so it gets a pass。 。。。more
Gaurang
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First half might be depressing。 Second half has lot of actionables。The author goes to great lengths to describe how tech corporations work。 He talks about three types of people that make up a corporate pyramid。 And describes the characteristics of each type。This part feels very depressing。 But from my experience， it's very real。In the latter part， the author discusses a lot of success stories。 How some people spent time developing a personal brand and gained enough leverage to live on their term First half might be depressing。 Second half has lot of actionables。The author goes to great lengths to describe how tech corporations work。 He talks about three types of people that make up a corporate pyramid。 And describes the characteristics of each type。This part feels very depressing。 But from my experience， it's very real。In the latter part， the author discusses a lot of success stories。 How some people spent time developing a personal brand and gained enough leverage to live on their terms。It also says that a person should learn and inculcate skills outside of their jobs， such as marketing， financial， basic sales， networking etc。 Being oblivious to these skills put us at a great disadvantage and that a lot of developers don't realise this。Overall， a very good book。 Must read for every developer。 。。。more
Chetan Vashisht
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3。5/5Erik has some amazing articles on his blog that makes you want to give his book a try。 Hence I decided to read the kindle copy。It's a good book asking each pragmatic programmer to look towards a more opportunistic approach。 He shows how ineffective the current triangular pyramidal setup is and how it's a concept of the past。 With the rise of knowledge workers who know more than just programming （including business， accounting and marketing）， current mid level managers who are just resources 3。5/5Erik has some amazing articles on his blog that makes you want to give his book a try。 Hence I decided to read the kindle copy。It's a good book asking each pragmatic programmer to look towards a more opportunistic approach。 He shows how ineffective the current triangular pyramidal setup is and how it's a concept of the past。 With the rise of knowledge workers who know more than just programming （including business， accounting and marketing）， current mid level managers who are just resources will become the first to be removed from companies。 Good developers are scarce and every good org knows that。I agree with him in the sense that the world is headed in this direction and more and more smarter developers will look towards freelancing。 I also agree that programming is a means to an end。 The being automation here。 We should learn to market ourselves better through blogs and books and online courses。It's a good book overall， can get cynical at times and it's a bit too long for the content it has。 。。。more
Jaime
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I feel extremely mixed about the book。 One the one hand， it definitely made me think: it provided a surprisingly new opinion on modern tech corporations and the software developer's place in them。 On the other hand， it was breathtakingly cynical and it made a vast array of sweeping generalizations， with mostly only anecdotal evidence in support。Dietrich categorizes corporate employees as either line-level "pragmatists" who have given up hope of earning their true value but are willing to take th I feel extremely mixed about the book。 One the one hand， it definitely made me think: it provided a surprisingly new opinion on modern tech corporations and the software developer's place in them。 On the other hand， it was breathtakingly cynical and it made a vast array of sweeping generalizations， with mostly only anecdotal evidence in support。Dietrich categorizes corporate employees as either line-level "pragmatists" who have given up hope of earning their true value but are willing to take the steady salary in exchange for the minimum work possible， mid-level "idealists" who have drunk the corporate kool-aid and are willing to put in unpaid overtime in the hopes of working their way up the corporate ladder， and top-level "opportunists" who recognized the futility of the traditional promotion and gave up their morals to cheat and side-step their way to the top。 This classification is strongly skewed towards the cynical side （as he freely admitted）， and I'm not sure I'm at all convinced by it。 But even in contemplating why I might disagree， I found myself thinking about my own career ambitions from a new perspective。 What is it that I hope to get from a corporate job？ Is it just the low risk of a steady salary？ The chance to be a small part of something big？ A title？His ending rally was to get out of the game entirely by spurning the corporate pyramid and instead founding small， agile， "efficiencer" partnership firms。 Before reading this book， I'd found the idea of working as a contractor or consultant as mildly disappointing - it seems like turning away from the possibility of doing something "big"。 Now I'm at least willing to entertain the idea。 。。。more
Martin Stoev
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Quite an interesting angle of dissecting the corporate IT world。 It gives you a pretty good idea of how it could be transformed and applied to real businesses。 Very close to the idea behind "Reinventing Organizations" from Frederic Laloux， but from a guy with technical/software background。 Quite an interesting angle of dissecting the corporate IT world。 It gives you a pretty good idea of how it could be transformed and applied to real businesses。 Very close to the idea behind "Reinventing Organizations" from Frederic Laloux， but from a guy with technical/software background。 。。。more
Kyle Walsh
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https://dev。to/syntopikyle/byte-sized。。。 https://dev。to/syntopikyle/byte-sized。。。 。。。more
Siddharth Saha
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Some of the concepts are good like what to expect when working for yourself。 The distinction between types of people in an Organization is a bit too simplistic bordering with bullshit at times。 How to work for yourself is basically just one kind。 Not a recommended read。 Could be a much much shorter book。 Instead of standing at 460 pages， the same thing could be said in 100 pages without losing ANYTHING。 Terribly edited as well。
Marcin Golenia
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It's very good book and touches a niche topic which is the mechanism of coorporation， behaviour of people working in it （and more）。 I gave 4/5 just because the book is too subjective in some places and unnecessarily spacious （also repetitive） in some chapters。 It also neglects "face to face" communication benefits at all costs。 It's very good book and touches a niche topic which is the mechanism of coorporation， behaviour of people working in it （and more）。 I gave 4/5 just because the book is too subjective in some places and unnecessarily spacious （also repetitive） in some chapters。 It also neglects "face to face" communication benefits at all costs。 。。。more
Dinesh Vijayakumar
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Absolutely loved reading this book。 If you have been a software developer for a while， almost everything sticks out as a personal experience witnessed one time or the other。
Dan
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Something I think speaks to the efficacy of the author's paradigm is the way the reviews of the book break down。 You have the pragmatists， who are depressed at the truths expressed in the book; you have the opportunists， who nod， while feeling a twinge of guilt at their own behaviors as exposed here （and in more than one case， a suspicion of confirmation bias， as their own success leads them to conclude the book is correct）; and you have the idealists， who hate this book because it flies in the Something I think speaks to the efficacy of the author's paradigm is the way the reviews of the book break down。 You have the pragmatists， who are depressed at the truths expressed in the book; you have the opportunists， who nod， while feeling a twinge of guilt at their own behaviors as exposed here （and in more than one case， a suspicion of confirmation bias， as their own success leads them to conclude the book is correct）; and you have the idealists， who hate this book because it flies in the face of what they value most。I'm not saying this book is 100% correct about the industry。 In fact， grading its 'correctness' is largely a matter of perspective。 Take， for instance， the low star reviews， which complain that things are more nuanced than Dietrich indicates。 Sure， absolutely。 But that matters if and only if your goal isn't to escape the work you are presently doing and receive more of the rewards that the people above your place in the organization are receiving。 The people who are working because they enjoy the work aren't wrong and I don't think Dietrich would claim they are。 They just aren't people for whom this mental framework will provide much value。If your reason for poorly rating the book is that you don't believe it's premise， that's fine。 If your reason for poorly rating the book is that it made you feel uncomfortable about the buy-in you've made to the corporate regime， you might consider looking at why that discomfort stuck with you long enough to bother reviewing the book at all。 。。。more
Richard
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to sum it up。 working in a corporation sucks。 go freelance。 with lots of bad stories and analogies and digressions about wolf packs etc。 the stuff he says is true and it's a pretty good dissection of the situation that most developers find themselves in。 to sum it up。 working in a corporation sucks。 go freelance。 with lots of bad stories and analogies and digressions about wolf packs etc。 the stuff he says is true and it's a pretty good dissection of the situation that most developers find themselves in。 。。。more
Gunar
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Pragmatist / Idealist / Opportunist / Opportunist Owner
Jacob O'Bryant
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A refreshingly cynical take on how companies work。 I worked at a relatively good software company my first year out of college， but I still found myself nodding in agreement as I read。 He's too hard on startups though。 He basically makes the case that we should all be independent consultants/contractors， which in general I think is a great idea。 However， startups are still needed to create brand new products。 Though the author didn't address it， this book sparked the following question for me: " A refreshingly cynical take on how companies work。 I worked at a relatively good software company my first year out of college， but I still found myself nodding in agreement as I read。 He's too hard on startups though。 He basically makes the case that we should all be independent consultants/contractors， which in general I think is a great idea。 However， startups are still needed to create brand new products。 Though the author didn't address it， this book sparked the following question for me: "Could a high-growth startup some how handle their engineering needs through groups of independent contractors instead of regular employees？ And could that be a competitive advantage？" 。。。more
Sergey Machulskis
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Totally worth your time， especially if you're a knowledge worker and you feel like grunt sometimes。 I expected the book to be a little bit crazy but it isn't。 The entire corporation-driven sector of the IT industry is crazy instead。This book is an in-depth version of Don't Call Yourself A Programmer article， one of my favourites。And by "in-depth" I mean really deep dive into the delusion of "real programmer"。 And it debunks a myth that the pyramid-shaped organizational chart is wise， honest and Totally worth your time， especially if you're a knowledge worker and you feel like grunt sometimes。 I expected the book to be a little bit crazy but it isn't。 The entire corporation-driven sector of the IT industry is crazy instead。This book is an in-depth version of Don't Call Yourself A Programmer article， one of my favourites。And by "in-depth" I mean really deep dive into the delusion of "real programmer"。 And it debunks a myth that the pyramid-shaped organizational chart is wise， honest and functional。Writing is very good。 The first 100 pages were really intense and dark。 It creates a framework allowing you to understand the goals of your coworkers。 Or your goals if you're not an adult yet。 The rest of the book pushes you to discover the bright future of the industry as the author sees it。 It's interesting。Corporate delusion treatment has made me realize a thing。 Everybody thinks he sees a given topic as is， without illusions。 Sure， most people agree there is some incomplete information but they cannot see the dogma they live in。 So the phrase "I understand about the topic more than anybody I know and， probably， more than most other people" is a lie。 It's the most universal delusion。Some quotes 。。。more
Michael Haupt
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One-sentence review: a waste of time and money that could have been a single blog post。A review of the book in the style of the book: "This is the truth about how developers want and need to work。 If you disagree， you're pathologically wrong， because this book is right。 Nuff said。"The book is written from the perspective of someone for whom corporate structures didn't work out， and sadly， the book generalises this perspective to the level of universal truth。 In doing that， it puts all dissenters One-sentence review: a waste of time and money that could have been a single blog post。A review of the book in the style of the book: "This is the truth about how developers want and need to work。 If you disagree， you're pathologically wrong， because this book is right。 Nuff said。"The book is written from the perspective of someone for whom corporate structures didn't work out， and sadly， the book generalises this perspective to the level of universal truth。 In doing that， it puts all dissenters in one of three conveniently defined stereotypical drawers that all carry some sense of the people they contain being wrong， wrong， wrong - either they're naïve， or they're stupid， or they're cunning。 Reading and buying into this content will not create empowered developers， but arrogant cynicists of the worst condescending kind。 The text uses numerous pseudo-historic excurses， none of which is backed by appropriate references to justify the conclusions， to motivate how the corporate world is always wrong。 These excurses are each in itself long and winding， and the fact that they replicate each other makes the book simply too long。 The book also employs several fables and allegories， all to the same effect and with the same flaws as the aforementioned excurses。There is some good content in the last few chapters and the appendix that describes a model for empowered self-employed developers。 This model is efficient and works - as is proven by several individuals the author interviewed。 Unfortunately， the goodness is all too well hidden in between more snark and recurses on the problematic style mentioned above。The claim to describe "the future of labor [sic]" is misleading and too broad。 The book describes， hidden in the cracks， a possible way of working for software developers。 Not all work is software development， which should not be news to anyone。The book could have been a good contribution in the form of a blog post and conference talks containing only said goodness and forgoing all of the unnecessary cynical noise。 As a book， it is too long and digresses too much。 。。。more
Kate545
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Dietrich seems to have a superficial grip on what he writes about。 The only value I see in this book is the last quarter when he uses the first person pronoun less and talks about specifics。
Tatiana Ensslin
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Good book but the publisher clearly didnt do a good job of reviewing。 Stream of conscious styled with lots of random stories to support ideas and act as similies to theories。 I felt up to chapter 36 was worth the read， it sorta got away from me after that。 Cynical but yet does present a categorical view of corporate structure。
Deiwin Sarjas
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A refreshing perspective after having spent almost a year mostly reading books on management。The criticism in this book felt accurate， if a little one-sided。 The vision and suggestions， however， I have a problem with。 I'm currently mostly interested in the organization of engineering teams in software product companies and the book offered little guidance on that topic。 It briefly mentioned that they'll be partnering with efficiencer firms， but it's hard to believe that software product companie A refreshing perspective after having spent almost a year mostly reading books on management。The criticism in this book felt accurate， if a little one-sided。 The vision and suggestions， however， I have a problem with。 I'm currently mostly interested in the organization of engineering teams in software product companies and the book offered little guidance on that topic。 It briefly mentioned that they'll be partnering with efficiencer firms， but it's hard to believe that software product companies will be outsourcing their main competency。 As has been shown time and time again， that doesn't work。 So I'm left none the wiser on that front。 。。。more
Ryan P
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Didn't finish。 The free sample chapter was very interesting， so I bought the book。 The rest， after the sample chapter， seemed like a different book。 Didn't finish。 The free sample chapter was very interesting， so I bought the book。 The rest， after the sample chapter， seemed like a different book。 。。。more
Mihai Cosareanu
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It's a great perspective to think from。 It sounds a bit radical though， and I don't think that all big corporations are the same。 Things are changing and the technology market is pretty dynamic， it's going to force them to change at some point， but I do agree that becoming an "efficiencer" is way better than being a software engineer。 Looking at yourself as a business that helps other businesses automate stuff is a much more viable economic model。I think it's definitely worth reading and there a It's a great perspective to think from。 It sounds a bit radical though， and I don't think that all big corporations are the same。 Things are changing and the technology market is pretty dynamic， it's going to force them to change at some point， but I do agree that becoming an "efficiencer" is way better than being a software engineer。 Looking at yourself as a business that helps other businesses automate stuff is a much more viable economic model。I think it's definitely worth reading and there are a lot of good lessons to be picked up from it。 。。。more
Jake McCrary
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I'm going to have a hard time reviewing this book and giving it five stars is maybe too high。 It wasn't the easiest book to read。 It definitely has some depressing moments。The first part of the book takes a very cynical look at corporations。 If you've worked for companies of any size beyond small then you'll probably read this part and start feeling depressed。 You'll be able to take the categories Dietrich describes and put former/current coworkers and yourself into them。 This doesn't always fee I'm going to have a hard time reviewing this book and giving it five stars is maybe too high。 It wasn't the easiest book to read。 It definitely has some depressing moments。The first part of the book takes a very cynical look at corporations。 If you've worked for companies of any size beyond small then you'll probably read this part and start feeling depressed。 You'll be able to take the categories Dietrich describes and put former/current coworkers and yourself into them。 This doesn't always feel good。 The first part finishes with an outline of how to get ahead in the corporate world。The second and last part of the book extols the virtue of starting your own thing and being independent。 It definitely makes a good case for it。Other reviews have gone into a bit more detail than my own。 Dig into those if you want a bit more details。Some others that I think highlight good points:https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。 。。。more
Robert Boyd
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In the same vein as 'The New Kingmakers: How Developers Conquered the World'， this book describes the hero's journey of the software engineering profession。 The past three decades have shown outlier rise-to-power scenarios where the world's wealthiest people became so because they knew how to tap the value of software， but this is clearly indicative of an overall trend。Erik Dietrich illustrates why developers have all the leverage to reclaim the bulk of the value capture in the new economy。"This In the same vein as 'The New Kingmakers: How Developers Conquered the World'， this book describes the hero's journey of the software engineering profession。 The past three decades have shown outlier rise-to-power scenarios where the world's wealthiest people became so because they knew how to tap the value of software， but this is clearly indicative of an overall trend。Erik Dietrich illustrates why developers have all the leverage to reclaim the bulk of the value capture in the new economy。"This is， of course， a disconcerting proposition for the business folks。 Managers and former developers will need to come face-to-face with an uncomfortable question， and that’s “What do you need me for， then？” My honest answer to that is， “I don’t know。 You’ll probably figure something out。” 。。。more
Jerzy
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The first half of this book is a dark and deeply cynical look at the current corporate culture。 The part ends with a grim outline of a plan you'd have to follow to succeed in this environment。Had the book ended at that point， it would be the most depressing thing I've read in the past few years – especially considering that I witness first-hand some of the described pathologies at my workplace。 Fortunately， there's a second part which describes the alternative to the corporate model。My biggest g The first half of this book is a dark and deeply cynical look at the current corporate culture。 The part ends with a grim outline of a plan you'd have to follow to succeed in this environment。Had the book ended at that point， it would be the most depressing thing I've read in the past few years – especially considering that I witness first-hand some of the described pathologies at my workplace。 Fortunately， there's a second part which describes the alternative to the corporate model。My biggest gripe with this title is that it offers a pretty one-sided perspective。 It feels as if the author projected his personal experiences onto the general public。 The selection of the people he interviewed screams confirmation bias。 I'd like to see some counterexamples to the main narrative – big companies with decent culture or individuals who thrive in the corporate context without turning into Machiavellian bastards。Having said that， the author makes a few really good points and the book made me think about my current and past job experiences。 That alone was worth the time spent reading it。 I recommend this book for everyone in software development industry。 。。。more
Peter Morlion
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Great insights into the corporate world。 This confirms things I had been seeing in many companies， byt explains it better and provides an optimistic alternative to the traditional options in your career。 The first half seems to lead to a conclusion that you should become an unethical asshole， but read on！ This books provides good tips on taking control over your professional life。 As a programmer of course。
anonymous user
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Machiavellistic guide to the programmers career。
Philip
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