What I mean by this is that people are pushing forwards with new tech simply to get it on their CV. It doesn't seem to matter what their ability is or whether or not there is a need for a particular technology, but it's simply that they seem to believe that having something on their CV is the right thing to do. It is completely ignorant of the investment the company has already made, the other skill sets and time to get up to speed and the wider picture of what introducing that tech means.
In the most extreme examples, this can go so far that a new tech is pushed in for the wrong reasons to a major project and it can totally die on its arse. The basic bits that needed engineering are lost along the way simply to cram the new toy in. Having just spent 6 weeks re-doing 18 months worth of someone else's CV Driven Project, I have seen this first hand. Properly engineered, the re-work was comfortably 300x faster simply by doing things right.
Let's split this into two categories, contractors and employees.
When you hire a contractor, they are there to do a specific job for a period of time. They trade off some of the benefits an employee has (such as job security, sick pay etc) in return for a higher rate of pay. We use these folk to backfill a gap in skills. As a contractor, the more skills you can have the more employable you are. So adding new skills is a good thing right ? Well yes, but if it's not in your spare time and you aren't being employed to learn new skills then you are simply abusing the contract and spending your time on things that you weren't employed for. Generally I would expect a contractor to be an expert in a given set of skills and I wouldn't expect to pay them to learn something that will be used at their next clients.
If you are an employee then it's great to get some new skills and bring them to the role. Everyone should advance their skill set and the business benefits while you are employed. However, doing this simply for the sake of it isn't right. It is a fine line between being innovative and learning vs simply doing something to get it on your CV. I've seen a fair number of people pushing for new skills simply because it's something new and shiney and with complete disregard for the practicalities and costs of changing to the new tech.
I realise I sound like a right miserable old fart, and I probably am. However, you have a responsibility to your employer to do the right thing at the right cost in the right time. When you are doing that it is a good thing. When you are changing tech simply because it benefits your CV and doesn't benefit the business then there is a problem.
I have seen examples where people are requesting 6 or 7 figure budgets to change tech and the only real explanation is that the existing work is poor and things need re-building. I have to question how good something totally new can be when that person has helped build something they deem as poor with technology that they claim to be experts on.
It's equally hard to justify for the wider picture of an established business (i.e not the start up people want to be a part of but aren't brave/clever enough to be the entrepreneur). If I employ someone for a role supporting a multi million pound business I would expect a minimum of 4 years experience. It's hard to find that with a new tech that is 2 or 3 years old. It would have to be the guys right at the forefront from the start. Being blunt, that probably is right in Silicon Valley but in Manchester, much as I love the place, much less so.
In my experience the people pushing for tech simply to get it on their CV are doing it simply because they don't actually have sufficient technical skills in the first place. They really don't like this being pointed out as they think that they are better than this. Eventually things will catch up with them.
To balance this out, I've also seen some exceptionally innovative work done with new technology in recent years. This has been done for the enthusiasm for technology and the benefit of the business and it pays off very well. The individual improves and the business benefits.
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