Not Invented Here
Encyclopedia
Not invented here is a term used to describe persistent social
, corporate, or institutional culture that avoids using or buying already existing products, research
, standards, or knowledge because of their external origins. It is normally used in a pejorative
sense, and may be considered an anti-pattern
. The reasons for not wanting to use the work of others are varied but can include fear through lack of understanding, an unwillingness to value the work of others, or forming part of a wider "turf war". The opposite culture is sometimes denoted proudly found elsewhere (PFE)
or invented here
.
As a social phenomenon, "Not Invented Here" syndrome is manifested as an unwillingness to adopt an idea or product because it originates from another culture, a form of nationalism
.
. This may also guard against future supply issues due to political unrest or other issues.
In programming, it is also common to refer to the NIH Syndrome as the tendency towards reinventing the wheel
(reimplementing something that is already available) based on the belief that in-house developments are inherently better suited, more secure or more controlled than existing implementations.
titled "Not Invented Here" which parodies mistakes made in the software development industry such as overly-optimistic schedules, improper specifications, interferences from marketing (and other outside sources or departments) and many others. It is drawn from the experiences of Barnes, who worked in software development for two decades.
The Culture
novel Excession
by Iain M. Banks
features a ship called Not Invented Here.
Social
The term social refers to a characteristic of living organisms...
, corporate, or institutional culture that avoids using or buying already existing products, research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, standards, or knowledge because of their external origins. It is normally used in a pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
sense, and may be considered an anti-pattern
Anti-pattern
In software engineering, an anti-pattern is a pattern that may be commonly used but is ineffective and/or counterproductive in practice.The term was coined in 1995 by Andrew Koenig,...
. The reasons for not wanting to use the work of others are varied but can include fear through lack of understanding, an unwillingness to value the work of others, or forming part of a wider "turf war". The opposite culture is sometimes denoted proudly found elsewhere (PFE)
or invented here
Invented Here
Invented here is an opposite of "not invented here" that occurs when management of an organisation is uncomfortable with innovation or development conducted in-house. Reasons why this might be the case are varied, and range from a lack of confidence in the staff within the organisation to a desire...
.
As a social phenomenon, "Not Invented Here" syndrome is manifested as an unwillingness to adopt an idea or product because it originates from another culture, a form of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
.
In computing
An argument for NIH is to guard against an aggressive action by another company buying up a technology supplier so as to create a captive marketCaptive market
Captive markets are markets where the potential consumers face a severely limited amount of competitive suppliers; their only choices are to purchase what is available or to make no purchase at all. Captive markets result in higher prices and less diversity for consumers...
. This may also guard against future supply issues due to political unrest or other issues.
In programming, it is also common to refer to the NIH Syndrome as the tendency towards reinventing the wheel
Reinventing the wheel
To reinvent the wheel is to duplicate a basic method that has already previously been created or optimized by others.The inspiration for this idiomatic metaphor lies in the fact that the wheel is the archetype of human ingenuity, both by virtue of the added power and flexibility it affords its...
(reimplementing something that is already available) based on the belief that in-house developments are inherently better suited, more secure or more controlled than existing implementations.
In popular culture
In late 2009, Bill Barnes (of Unshelved) and Paul Southworth (of Ugly Hill and You Are Dead) launched a webcomicWebcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
titled "Not Invented Here" which parodies mistakes made in the software development industry such as overly-optimistic schedules, improper specifications, interferences from marketing (and other outside sources or departments) and many others. It is drawn from the experiences of Barnes, who worked in software development for two decades.
The Culture
The Culture
The Culture is a fictional interstellar anarchist, socialist, and utopian society created by the Scottish writer Iain M. Banks which features in a number of science fiction novels and works of short fiction by him, collectively called the Culture series....
novel Excession
Excession
Excession, first published in 1996, is Scottish writer Iain M. Banks's fourth science fiction novel to feature the Culture. It concerns the response of the Culture and other interstellar societies to an unprecedented alien artifact, the Excession of the title.The book is largely about the response...
by Iain M. Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
features a ship called Not Invented Here.
See also
- Anti-patternAnti-patternIn software engineering, an anti-pattern is a pattern that may be commonly used but is ineffective and/or counterproductive in practice.The term was coined in 1995 by Andrew Koenig,...
- Appeal to spiteAppeal to spiteAn appeal to spite is a fallacy in which someone attempts to win favor for an argument by exploiting existing feelings of bitterness, spite, or schadenfreude in the opposing party...
- Association fallacyAssociation fallacyAn association fallacy is an inductive informal fallacy of the type hasty generalization or red herring which asserts that qualities of one thing are inherently qualities of another, merely by an irrelevant association. The two types are sometimes referred to as guilt by association and honor by...
- Editor wars
- GroupthinkGroupthinkGroupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without...
- List of cognitive biases
- ProtectionismProtectionismProtectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
- Wishful thinkingWishful thinkingWishful thinking is the formation of beliefs and making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence, rationality or reality...
- XenophobiaXenophobiaXenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
, a different phenomenon which may cause similar problems - YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It)