10.10 Conclusions

Psychological warfare requires essential skills for maintaining personal peace of mind and affecting the surrounding world. Software architects endure tremendous psychological pressures that must be managed, for the well-being of both the individual and the software organization. Using these techniques, architects can progress from small successes to global influence. These powerful techniques should, however, be applied "for the right reasons." The primary motivation for being in this profession should not be to make money. To be a true professional, the software architect must love his or her work.

The person who's in this business only for the money can be unkindly described as a confidence trickster. Another popular terminology for describing these sorts of people is "trough guy," as in a pig trough. Certainly, there are some roles in the IT business where this way of thinking is appropriate, such as sales engineering. And undoubtedly several people have followed this path, but this type of motivation leads to extremely abrasive ways of interacting. This attitude is unacceptable in software architects. It is simply bad behavior and a highly inappropriate way to attain success as a software architect.

Psychological warfare should not be used for purely personal or selfish reasons. These techniques are strictly apolitical. Both good guys and bad guys can use them. And nobody is either all bad or all good. To be the good guys, and do the job properly, software architects must be sophisticated about psychological warfare techniques. They must use this knowledge to defend themselves, defend their projects, and make progress in otherwise intractable situations.