I have a few architect friends. Architects love their job and, for that offense against corporate sensibility, they get paid shit. In fact, some architects, like Dan, enjoy what they do so much they enter design competitions and fritter away their free time for love of the game. Others, like John, write weekly architecture reviews. Architects are a devoted lot. They design steel and glass skyscrapers, modern museums, concert halls, Wal-Marts in strip malls, and suburban track housing. As in IT, not every job is glamorous, but you build what the client wants.

What about the architects who design and design, but never get built? In the IT world, I call that “stay away from that guy's project”.