I often read the comments section before reading the article because it gives me an indication if I want to read the article. In this case, your comment made me very curious. Keep in mind that my point of view is coloured by the fact that I was looking for something out of the ordinary.

I found the examples fairly innocuous. It makes me wonder if you have been recently getting criticism that you consider unfair. It's easy to have your mind latch on to that kind of thing. I think it is especially easy if you consider the advice given to be unsound.

In this case the situation is that the person is laid off from their job and they are considering the causes. It is interesting that all of the causes listed are their own fault. While it is not discussed in any detail in the article, I think this is actually a big part of doing root causes analysis. It is not useful to spend a lot of time doing analysis on things that you can do nothing about. I think this is why the author is focusing on "what could I do differently".

I found your comment of "propaganda piece to confuse and guild trip employees into learning in their free time" to be interesting. Now, again, keep in mind that I'm an older guy who is much nearer retirement than starting out and that my biggest fault at work is that I work too hard (especially these days because my body can't handle it and I end up less productive than I could be). However, I have found that the sentiment you seem to endorse is often quite counter productive for software developers. If you are not a software developer, then maybe this won't apply, but it might be interesting anyway.

I don't know if you are young or old, experienced or relatively new at this stuff. However, if I could only give young developers a single piece of advice it's that you can't stop learning and that your boss probably won't pay for all the learning you need to do. I'm still able to code professionally, despite my white hair, because I spend an inordinate amount of time learning both on and off the job. I can do remote development from rural Japan because I can pick up new fashion and become proficient with it as fast as my employer needs me to be.

When I first started, the good jobs I had available to me required me to know JCL, APL, COBOL and DB2. And while you can probably make a decent wage doing this kind of work now, you aren't going to have any choices about where you live (or probably even what colour of tie to wear...).

It sucks in many ways. I wish any of my previous employers had decided that they wanted to allow me to spend a big chunk of my work day using technology and techniques that they didn't need yet. But... There are like 10x more programmers now than there were when I first started. It's much easier to simply lay off the previous ones and bring on the new ones. First, they'll be trained on the new technology. Second, they'll be eager to use it. Third, they'll be half the price.

Just going to say it again to let it sink in. I compete against people who already know the new technology, have more energy than me and who cost half my salary. Saying, "But I'm old", just doesn't cut it for keeping your job ;-)

It's not that I don't understand what you are saying, but I think your conclusions are in many ways dangerously naive. If it's the case that you've got 30-40 years of experience and it's all worked out for you with that kind of attitude, then I will rush to your side to learn your secret. If not, I hope you will consider a more pragmatic view of navigating through your career.

And, yes, I think the kind of thinking promoted by this article can be helpful.