Here are several reasons why IT feels more like a holy war where EA is at the center of a jihad...
- Perception of Change: People simply perceive change and patterns of change differently. Changes that may have burned some designs may not have burned others; or perhaps if somebody gets chewed out for the inability to handle change A, but not for the inability to handle change B, then in the future they may focus more on reducing A-related change problems at the expense of B.
- Standards versus Freedom: Some people seem to like standards because they either provide ready-made solutions, or reduce the variety of solutions offered by others, making reading other's code and debugging easier. However, sometimes it is nice to model things after one's own mind for a more comfortable fit, regardless of how standards suggest doing it.
- Presentation Absorption: Different people absorb information quicker in different forms. A presentation approach that is easy for person A may not be easy for person B, and vice versa.
- Different Values or Objectives: For example, to make something secure because compliance says so regardless of how painful it may be for end-users vs not caring at all about security and only having a thought about usability.
