Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

"Managing up" exists for people who want to remain in a company long term and typically found in large organizations with bad managers. When the job market is bad, it is worth the effort. In this job market? I'd be gone in a heartbeat.

Listen to this OP, I agree with what is stated here. You got caught in the cross-fire of internal politics.

To put it plainly, sometimes companies know they do not have the resources to meet a deadline and to deliver a feature or product with the shape and quality they have promised.

When that deadline fails to be met, middle managers need someone's head to roll in order to avoid being blamed themselves.

At that moment, middle managers start conspiring against some of their subordinates, and they often build an argument that some engineer is not "performing well enough" or some other similar claim.

The key is that at companies with this kind of culture the burden of proof is placed on the defense. Meaning that if your manager claims you are not meeting their expectations, it's on you to prove you are performing well enough, and at that point you are pretty much fucked, because they can simply say they don't believe you (the entire point of it is to shift blame, no matter how esoterical the thought process is).

Ultimately, you need to think about your own wellbeing and if you are willing to work under some sociopath. You can add all the layers you want to the problem, but it comes down to some people making fake promises and having some coworkers or employees pay for those lies.

Yup. I am concerned, because it sounds like a lack of mentoring on a technical and an organizational level. I've made similar mistakes and I dislike it, but my lesson is: a junior should have mentors they can lean upon and draw into meetings for technical and political support. Or lean upon just whenever. It can grow overbearing if the junior doesn't grow wings, but under-mentoring and seeming abandonment inside the org can be much, much worse.

Like, why are they complaining about this on hacker news? They should be venting to their manager (we can see why that fails), or some engineer with some clout they trust. If they don't have these avenues, that can turn sour quickly.

first of all, congrats on finding a great job with smart colleagues and fun problems.

you need to be able to put this aside for the moment. as in, not the the useful advice, but agonising over 'fair'.

I've had negative feedback that I thought was exaggerated. How I dealt with it was to take on the feedback nonetheless, because I wanted to satisfy to myself that the criticism while valid was not a useful perspective on my work.

I've also had negative feedback that I was convinced was totally misplaced. How I dealt with it was to sympathise with my manager's position: they were obviously having difficulties with their own responsibilities.

I've also once had negative feedback that I had to admit was totally valid. How I dealt with it was to realise that my colleagues wanted me to perform at a higher level. I took their advice on what changes to make in my work, and went on to enjoy many more years in that role.

The first few years of my career were punctuated with consistent positive feedback, and I think I was the worse for it. Any mistakes I made were treated as aberrations, and for a few years I never got any advice about how to be better. Instead I got totally unhelpful declarations of brilliance that did nothing to help me grow.

quite likely your boss and your manager are more at fault in this scenario, but if so, you need to let them be wrong this time. As others here have suggested, I'd encourage you to pursue regular progress reviews with your immediate report.