[plt-scheme] Re: Programming for non-programmers

On Oct 17, 2004, at 12:44 AM, Alex Peake wrote:

> Others have pointed out that the top programmers are undervalued, and 
> in any but great companies I
> agree. Most think in terms of a linear relationship between Rank and 
> Output (Value) with the 50%
> Rank giving 50% Value. I think more in terms of ax + bx^3 where the 
> bottom quartile have negative
> value and the top quartile produce 3 to 10 times more value than the 
> average. I have had many
> managers intellectually agree, and then balk at actually paying even 
> double.

If a programmer's manager agreed to pay a top programmer what he is 
worth to the bottom line (assuming we can measure this up to some 
reasonable degree), the programmer's pay would in almost all cases 
exceed the manager's pay. Now in some companies, there are two parallel 
hierarchies, or programmers can escape the manager's path in some other 
way. My impression is that highly paid programmers are more often found 
in such companies. -- Matthias