The Three IT Roles: The King, the Sage, and the Cog

By Daniel Miessler on September 19th, 2009: Tagged as Career | Information Technology | Philosophy

kingsagecog

I observe three basic types of people working in the IT field: kings, sages, and cogs.

The King

The king is one who has complete control over how they are going to orient a given IT shop. He creates strategy and manages the implementation of that strategy. Most importantly, he can come up with his own ideas and implement them. Think director, VP, CTO, or CIO.

1% of the workforce.

The Sage

The sage is the person that everyone listens to. He may not get to (or even be in the position to) implement the changes he proposes, but when he proposes a solution to a problem it gets taken seriously by those who can make the changes. Think high quality consultant.

9% of the workforce.

The Cog

A cog is an employee in a large organization who simply implements the vision put forth by someone else. He has no real pull with the kings of the organization and is not respected as a sage. This is the average IT worker bee.

90% of the workforce.

Which Are You?

In general, to attain fulfillment in IT one must be either a king or a sage. Being a cog is deeply depressing to any who values his intellect and creativity. In both the king and the sage’s cases, they can see a problem, have a flash of genius, whiteboard a solution, and either implement it or recommend it be implemented with good chances that it will be.

Cogs, on the other hand, are bodies. They are there to write code, create pretty documents, or to flip switches. What they are not there to do is give meaningful input, and when they attempt to do so it’s usually greeted with a polite smile and promptly disregarded. Ideas from cogs are viewed as amusing to management–like a child pretending to be an adult.

Of course, these roles often mix together. Everyone in IT is, to some degree, a cog for the business, and some cogs are treated like sages by their management. But in general, the gravity within large companies encourages sages to become cogs. In short, if you regularly identify serious problems, know how to fix them, constantly mention this only to be summarily ignored–you’re a cog.

Life is Short

Be a king. Be a sage. Don’t be a cog. Life is too precious, and this is all the time we get. Don’t waste it in an environment that stifles creativity and weighs on the soul. ::

  • CarlM

    I'll leave aside that you've just insulted 90 percent of workers (or at least IT workers), but I'd put forth that in any well-run organization, ideas will be accepted (and taken seriously) from any who are willing to offer them and GOOD ideas will be recognized regardless of who offers them.

  • http://danielmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    IT workers are well aware of this problem; it's a common complaint in the field. I don't find my comments insulting at all. All I am basically saying is that if you keep seeing the same problems over and over, and you keep complaining about them but are being ignored, you should go somewhere where you will be listened to.

    And as for your comment about good ideas being heard? This is another example of you having a strange example of what “normal” is. You do give the qualifier of “well-run organizations”, but that's kind of the problem. The number one complain in IT is that management doesn't listen to good ideas, so perhaps by your standard that would mean it isn't a well-run organization.

    Doesn't matter. Call it what you will. I'm saying that it's a problem, and the way to fix it is to move into a role where solving problems is rewarded rather than ignored or punished.

  • CarlM

    Absolutely right. ANY organization of ANY type that doesn't listen to good ideas from all sources is not a well-run organization. I made no claims of normality anywhere in my reply.

    —–

    The insult I saw was here:

    “A cog is … the average IT worker bee. 90% of the workforce.
    Being a cog is deeply depressing for all but the dimmest of minds.”

    So anyone who is in this role and is NOT deeply depressed has been classified by you as having “the dimmest of minds.”

    I think that's rather insulting.

  • cooperati

    “So anyone who is in this role and is NOT deeply depressed has been classified by you as having 'the dimmest of minds.'”

    This is the opposite of insulting. If you are dim-witted, you will feel alright with the situation. If you aren't dim-witted, you will be rather depressed, because you are unvervalued and probably under-appreciated. It's a rather backhanded compliment, either clumsily or artistically rendered.

    -=T=-

  • cooperati

    nice. beautiful in fact.

  • http://danielmiessler.com/ Daniel Miessler

    On second thought, I agree with your assessment. I've modified that sentence. I didn't realize it came out that harshly.

  • CarlM

    Much better … but I think that “deeply depressing” has a different meaning to you and me. I think that you are not taking into account that not everyone defines their self-worth by their activity at work. I can imagine someone being quite happy being a contributing member of a team (without “cogs” nothing would get done) and then going home to spend time with family, friends, hobbies, etc. I see no reason for such a person to be even mildly depressed.

    Even in cases where morale at a place of employment is low because the “cogs” are not being utilized to their full potential (the primary motivator for the timing of my look for new employment a few years ago), I would hope that people have a sufficient internal sense of self-worth that “deep depression” is not a necessary consequence of morale issues at work.

  • http://myopera.com/dapxin dapxin

    very Interesting post.
    And the counter-points made are also very interesting….

  • http://myopera.com/dapxin dapxin

    very Interesting post.
    And the counter-points made are also very interesting….

  • Pingback: Some Thoughts on the Future of IT | danielmiessler.com

  • Sstave

    I agree with the three categories, but not the complete description. If you are a good ‘King’ or ‘Sage’ you would enable your ‘Cogs’ to add more value and input in any given design.

    For example, in my years of managing IT staff – I allow a lot of input and feedback into any decision, even if I know exactly what I want to be done. You can foster the creative process among a team – give them certain bits of information and ask question that helps them come to the same design decisio you have in mind, but make them feel as though they own the final design.

    By asking “How can we achieve X” – then listening to the answers and following up with “That sounds good, but what if we do XYZ as well, would that make it better?”

    If you help your team through the design process, rather than issuing edicts at every turn – you can help them grow as professionals.

  • Dbatres

    This is exactly what is happening in my IT department. I have worked hard, proven, spoken and voiced my creativity but it gets always ignored by the top ones. I have ambitions and passions to be a king who: values his cogs and his Sages, fairly treats all with no favoritism and creates no hierarchy that allows damage and mistreatment. A team is a multiple of workers all working for the team and not a single person working for the team. Thank you for this article.

  • Kohi10

    I think you have the concept right, however, “the cog” is more akin to the peasant. The role of do-er is a ncessity in business and in IT. If we all ran around being kings and sages, we would be planning and never implementing. Every person in IT must spend some time in each role. I would never say or support the comment that anyone that spends time as a “cog” or “peasant” in IT is dim-witted or low in value. I also disagree that to achieve full attainment (Fulfillment? Aspiration?) you have to be a king or a sage. Many of the best and brightest that I have met and led have aspirations of being the best implementor or administrator of their platform or product of choice. They don’t want the politics, challenges or headaches that come from dealing with sages, kings and jesters…


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