competence
I had a meeting today. I'll spare you from the boring details but it went something like this:
Meeting starts, we talk about expectations and requirements for the solution, I layout my solution proposal: GA4 API to retrieve data, all python, push to Snowflake; trivial stuff.
Meeting Organizer: Thank you for laying out your solution, I think it sounds great. Gonna be a big lift but I think we can do it.
Me: of course, just le-
PM: Sorry to interject (has been virtually silent the whole meeting), I wanted to ask if there might be any simpler solutions to our problem. I want to make sure we are spending our resources wisely.
I proceed to explain to her that we have two options: purchase a product that does the work for us, or build it in house. Due to our financial situation I knew buying a solution was not an option. I go on to tell her why building in house would actually reduce our tech debt and streamline our process, essentially subverting the SAAS thesis. Of course, none of this was needed; others on my team have already tried to solve this issue with a litany of tools and connectors over many months which is why I was pulled in.
Me: Does all of that make sense?
PM: ...silence... Yup I hear you. Okay, let's make sure we all keep our resource constraints in mind when we make these decisions.
some more corporate chatter
Meeting organizer: Okay.. well if that's it then I guess we can end it here. Thanks all for joining.
What resource constraints are they referring to? Certainly not the $150k/yr price tag on the out-of-the-box solution (+ hours spent developing the environment). Time, they are worried about time. Okay fair, but whose? My time, they are worried about my time; a person I've only met 3 times in my 3 years. This "professional manager" didn't actually know anything about the project. They defaulted to their best tools of deception: tech buzzwords, random organizational concerns (of which they have virtually no control of), and "just being curious".
The enforced incompetence of the professional managerial class will come back to bite them, and rather unfortunately, the rest of us as well.