February is the time of big decisions. People start to look for better jobs. Why? Because they ‘ve gotten their annual reviews. “You meet our expectations and even exceed them. But sorry , man , you know how it works… No, this is not a price of a gallon of gas – this is your bonus…My hands are tied, so you are fucked up again this year. But if you work hard and improve items 2 and 4 on your Goals… ”

Got a call today from an excellent programmer. Know him for 15 years. He knows .Net inside out. And I mean infuckinside out.

Hey you, a mediocre manager! WTF are you doing? Do you think that geeks are people from Mars who will work for you just because they enjoy coding 16 hours a day and are happy dining at McDonald? Do you think that they do not have bills to pay? Do you think their wives, girlfriends or domestic partners are second class citizens that are happy to shop at WallMart while yours gets stuff at Nordstrom? Do you thinks that geeks are OK with driving Toyota Corollas? Guess what, they also know what ‘s good and what ‘s bad. They know how to google too.

When someone else is asking again why managers can ‘t recruit top talent , it makes me smile. Mediocre managers just want the numbers on reviews look smooth to their management. “Sorry man, we have a bonus pool and we can give Exceed only to 10 percent of people in our group. John and Mary stay with the firm for 15 years and I had to give it to them. I ‘m sure you understand… ” Fuck the geeks! A mediocre manager does not give a damn if you quit or stay. You ‘ve contributed a year of your life to his roadmap in becoming an executive. Another year, another geek.

Anyway, if you need a super .Net programmer that knows AJAX and all shebang, let me know. As a matter of fact, it does not matter what he knows today, cause tomorrow he ‘ll know anything and everything that the rest of the members of you team pretend to know. And he ‘ll knows it a lot better.

If you need a .Net guru, let me know. Sorry, he ‘s not interested in full time employment at this point of his career. But if you want to have a serious programmer, let me know. His hourly rate is high, but you won ‘t regret it.

If you are also a geek working for a similar moron-manager, get the fuck out of there. Every year they ‘ll find another excuse for giving you a funny bonus. Take your career in your hands! As Beethoven has written, “Man, help yourself! “. Beethoven was dead on!