[Beowulf] [OT] HPC and University IT - forum/mailing list?

[Jim Lux]

At 06:46 AM 8/16/2006, Mark Hahn wrote:
>>>only mail client in use.  these approaches are often
>>>justified as "putting the uni on a sold, business-like footing".
>>
>>The situation you describe is not endemic to "big-A" but rather to an 
>>administrative person failing to understand the environment they are 
>>administering.  The "one mail client to rule them all" may be entirely 
>>appropriate in certain business environments (eg. non-technology 
>>companies). It is the wrong approach (again, in general) for a university 
>>or heavy research environment.  Not understanding this difference is a 
>>failure of the person, not the position.
>
>I guess I've had the misfortune to run into people with an MBA, who wield 
>it like a hammer (to whom everything looks like a nail).


MBAs (and all advanced degrees (or knowledge) in general, regardless of 
field) are like chainsaws.  A powerful tool in the right hands, disastrous 
in the wrong.

There is a tendency in some MBA programs to inculcate a feeling that "all 
management is abstract, and domain specific knowledge is immaterial, 
because you can manage by the numbers".  I think this was more popular in 
the 80s, because certainly now, it's changed a lot.

You can get good and bad managers (or researchers) anywhere.  Probably the 
notable thing is that the amount of "pain" that a bad manager can cause is 
greater.

Jim