Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 92 posts

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#61

Post by kweinber »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #50
kweinber wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mentioned "shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen" Do you realize that this is your fault too? Your job is to manage, maintain and improve the code-base but, instead, you choose to take advantage of the fact that you still get paid because people aren't micromanaging you and forcing you to do your job. You should realize that lousy codebases and micromanagers exist because of th…

The shitty code base existed before they got there. Dropping 'new, refactored code base' onto your managers lap can go a couple of ways. Doing it quietly is a recipe for disaster because then you have no support. Your manager could deny a rewrite altogether. Then what? If we had reasonable social safety nets, I would say quickly that he is irresponsible staying after finding out about the code base. But the problem i…

The world in which everyone solely does the minimum of what they are explicitly asked to do would be a unkind, bleak, unproductive, and dysfunctional one.

I am extremely grateful that not everyone espouses this philosophy.

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#62

Post by [deleted] »

rburhum wrote: post #49

Ugh... Let me give you a different point of view that will most likely not be popular in HNs, but what the hell. I have had employees like you, and I try to scan like the plague during interviews to avoid hiring folks like you. The thing is, that I hate to be micro-managed and by extension, I hate to micro-manage people. Since to have a good work environment, you need to have trust that works both ways. When one pers…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#63

Post by decentrality »

ScottBurson wrote: post #60
decentrality wrote: post #37

From the looks of it, you asked basically this same question within the past year. I think the real question is: are you being honest with yourself? The last time you asked this it was more along the lines of "I hate my job and want out, btw I have wife and 1 child" and now it's more cooled down to "I've accepted that I hate my job and I'm sort of just punishing them with my lack of direction in life" and then lookin…

Ooh, good catch! For others' reference, here's the previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14100061

Favorite quote:

> I have been working on a startup on the side (and on the clock, because fuck it, idgaf anymore)

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#64

Post by thesmallestcat »

twblalock wrote: post #47
thesmallestcat wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about uneven share of profits. Ownership takes it all. We are paid the minimum possible in most cases.

The way to share in a company's profits is through stock. Most large companies have employee stock purchase plans and/or give stock as compensation -- not just tech companies. This gives employees a share of profits and makes them partial owners of the company. I'm not sure what more you want.

Most people aren't getting equity at all. Of those who get equity, it's meaningless. The lion's share of profits go to ownership or shareholders.

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#65

Post by reificator »

kweinber wrote: post #33
FLUX-YOU wrote: post #23

- shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen - Managers are very hands-off here, not many meetings either I was in a similar spot. You can get away with a ton of stuff in an environment like this, but as you've probably guessed, it will quickly bore you or the code base will invoke tears. Bonus if they let you work from home, and they probably would if you come up with a decent reason.…

You mentioned "shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen" Do you realize that this is your fault too? Your job is to manage, maintain and improve the code-base but, instead, you choose to take advantage of the fact that you still get paid because people aren't micromanaging you and forcing you to do your job. You should realize that lousy codebases and micromanagers exist because of th…

Not the OP, but there's often only so much you can do.

Bad software is often a cultural problem, and I know first hand that you can't just go in and change the culture of a place with the snap of your fingers, especially when you're not in management.

Sometimes you can't get authorization to work on things that would be a "waste of time", even if it means you sit there visibly doing nothing. That's just the way enterprises are sometimes.

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#67

Post by briandear »

soared wrote: post #26
justonepost wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is it illegal? There might be a civil case (can you sue an employee for laziness?) but I am unaware of a criminal statute on slacking off.

I'd imagine he means that all the side project work op is doing is technically owned by his employer, so using it for his own gain is illegal.

However, that still isn't illegal. That would be a civil dispute. "Illegal" is implying that he could go to jail and that he is breaking a law. Just nitpicking, but I think that "illegal" is a much stronger idea than simply "could get you fired or could get you sued."

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#68

Post by amag »

kweinber wrote: post #33
FLUX-YOU wrote: post #23

- shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen - Managers are very hands-off here, not many meetings either I was in a similar spot. You can get away with a ton of stuff in an environment like this, but as you've probably guessed, it will quickly bore you or the code base will invoke tears. Bonus if they let you work from home, and they probably would if you come up with a decent reason.…

You mentioned "shitty enterprise software, on one of the worst code bases I've ever seen" Do you realize that this is your fault too? Your job is to manage, maintain and improve the code-base but, instead, you choose to take advantage of the fact that you still get paid because people aren't micromanaging you and forcing you to do your job. You should realize that lousy codebases and micromanagers exist because of th…

For a new member of a team it's very hard to be committed and take responsibility of the code base if none of the old team members care.

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#69

Post by alkonaut »

tw1010 wrote: post #9
antoinealb wrote: post #3

Be careful, many contracts contain parts that give full ownership of what you make on company time to your employer. You might loose your dream if you are not careful.

Some contracts even give ownership of what you create on your free time to the company.

I know it's common, but I can't imagine those often hold up in court (assuming the work was completely unrelated, no employer hardware, knowledge, hours etc were used).

Re: Ask HN: Can you get away with not working?

#70

Post by FLUX-YOU »

kweinber wrote: post #61
FLUX-YOU wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The shitty code base existed before they got there. Dropping 'new, refactored code base' onto your managers lap can go a couple of ways. Doing it quietly is a recipe for disaster because then you have no support. Your manager could deny a rewrite altogether. Then what? If we had reasonable social safety nets, I would say quickly that he is irresponsible staying after finding out about the code base. But the problem i…

The world in which everyone solely does the minimum of what they are explicitly asked to do would be a unkind, bleak, unproductive, and dysfunctional one. I am extremely grateful that not everyone espouses this philosophy.

Dying for corporate is not a hill you want to die on.

There are certainly companies which are worth putting in 100% effort, but this isn't one of them for OP. But the reality is that most of us need a job.

Who can we blame for not being able to perfectly match employers with employees and giving everyone a fairy tale ending?

Post reply on HN