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Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

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Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#911

Post by david-gpu »

arcastroe wrote: post #777
ploxiln wrote: post #717

> Do people regularly run into coworkers like me during their career and simply ignore it because they find it too awkward to criticize them? Have I just been incredibly lucky and every boss I have had is too incompetent to notice? Do I have imposter syndrome and I am actually a 10x developer whose laziness makes them a 1x developer? Lazy developers don't really bother me, if you do a couple hours of high-quality wor…

(4 Choose 2) is 6. The quote only specified what to do with four of those combinations. What does one do with the other two? Or is it just impossible to be both clever and stupid at the same time? I've had my share of both cleverly stupid ideas and stupidly clever ideas.

You can't be lazy and industrious at the same time, nor clever and stupid. There are only four valid options.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#912

Post by JJMcJ »

hattori_hanzo wrote: post #905
markb139 wrote: post #811

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve worked with a genuine 0.1x developer. Not only were they unproductive (which is fine if you are new or inexperienced in an area), but they actually reduced the productivity of others in the team. I think sometimes this was deliberate as a plan to get the team reassigned. Luckily I was a contractor and could largely ignore the politics and just get on with work.

This is a -1.0x developer.

So called Net Negative Producer.

Much more dangerous than someone who is merely slow.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#913

Post by confidantlake »

arcastroe wrote: post #777
ploxiln wrote: post #717

> Do people regularly run into coworkers like me during their career and simply ignore it because they find it too awkward to criticize them? Have I just been incredibly lucky and every boss I have had is too incompetent to notice? Do I have imposter syndrome and I am actually a 10x developer whose laziness makes them a 1x developer? Lazy developers don't really bother me, if you do a couple hours of high-quality wor…

(4 Choose 2) is 6. The quote only specified what to do with four of those combinations. What does one do with the other two? Or is it just impossible to be both clever and stupid at the same time? I've had my share of both cleverly stupid ideas and stupidly clever ideas.

The other two options are

1. clever and stupid

2. industrious and lazy

Neither of those options make much sense. They are choosing both values of one parameter and no values are choosen for the other parameter

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#914

Post by omar12 »

I have ruminated about the same questions that OP has the past few weeks as I reflect on this year. What I realized and simplified, as a software developer is that I get paid to deliver a positive result when it's expected.

Like I mentioned, it's overly simplified, but looking at any responsibility that you may have, it ends on delivering. Delivering a feature, functionality, a product, a result. Then it's up to you to take it further.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#915

Post by Apocryphon »

khazhoux wrote: post #773
ww520 wrote: post #659

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, he got great reviews, so his managers must have thought he made enough contributions.

Well, when you bullshit your teammates all year and tell them every day "Ah, I'm still working on this problem, it's a real tough one" (when really you're at home watching YouTube all day)... and every three weeks you say "OK, I'm done with this tough problem -- next !" (when really you could have gotten it done in two days)... and the schedule drags out but no blames you because, after all, you tell everyone at stan…

Sounds like 1) something about the business is either too inefficient to account for such a low-output performer OR it's efficient enough to get by even with low output, and 2) their manager and team are not doing their jobs in keeping them honest.

Either way, this true impostor situation you're describing doesn't seem to represent the OP. It sounds like a lot of work, which they ain't doing. It doesn't sound like they're some sort of master of disguise engaged in an elaborate con.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#916

Post by mrozbarry »

shinryuu wrote: post #824
mrozbarry wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this 2-question test is very accurate. To add to this, even if for a time, you can increase your productivity, sometimes that's not sustainable. There's nothing wrong with having ebbs and flows. On days when you have a larger workload of smaller tasks, you may find yourself to be incredibly productive, and days when you have smaller workloads, or larger tasks, and you may be less productive. The thing is, if…

It's certainly not your boss's job to ensure that you are compensated fairly.

Perhaps I worded that a little badly. They are responsible for making sure you are getting paid, or if you get fired.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#918

Post by cluse »

You sound like you work at a larger company. I've worked at large companies and it's amazing how many resources large companies can waste, and how easy it is for people in those companies to hide that waste.

It drives me crazy when I see a lot of waste - whether it's time, money, or just human potential when people want to achieve more but they don't have the right opportunity because others dismiss them as not having potential. I became much happier when I moved to a small company that was run much more efficiently and very little was wasted, and if people are in a position where they don't feel good about what they are doing, there are sufficient opportunities for them to do something different.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#919

Post by blindmute »

I'm exactly the same way. From what I can tell, we really are just lazy 10x devs. I've seen and mentored enough people in the office to realize that I am objectively much faster and more efficient than the average developer, sometimes up to 10x as much.

The sad fact is that outside of FAMGAN (maybe even in there), the average developer is so mediocre that this isn't noticed. I've had around 7 developer jobs of various levels, and I have always been able to maintain an average velocity with 5-10 hours of work per week. I know some of my coworkers were also this lazy, but I know many more really were not. They're just that slow. This held true even at a 4 dev startup! (I had to increase the hours to ~15/wk there)

Sometimes I could finish the whole sprint in 1-2 days. I learned the git commands to rewrite timestamps and would push that work intermittently throughout the sprint with `at` or cron jobs. I always had great performance reviews. No, you are not alone.

Re: Ask HN: Are most of us developers lying about how much work we do?

#920

Post by theskypirate »

lta wrote: post #490
Karawebnetwork wrote: post #41

I have never done what you describe, except perhaps in times of illness when it was understood that working less was a reasonable accommodation (in that particular case, I had leftover brain fog from general anesthesia). I've never heard of any colleagues doing it either. I would never snitch if it happened, but I would certainly consider that person untrustworthy or think that they have an undisclosed condition that…

I'm happy to finally read a comment that say this isn't a good or normal thing. I was starting to feel a bit of despair. I don't think I've done that much more that you seems to do but I've certainly seen a lot of people do it and it's always been pissing me off. I've always wondered how the world even works when I consider how much I've seen people do that at every level and at every kind of job. Dear original post…

> you really need to start doing something that you enjoy or that motivates you.

Screw this advice. The world is filled with and is highly tolerant of mediocrity. Do your best and collect the biggest paycheck that you can. Not everyone gets to have their dream job.

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