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Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

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81–90 of 757 posts

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#81

Public budget is a big part of private companies earnings.

Interesting. Care to elaborate?

There is a huge amount of public funding/grants/tax breaks available to small/medium enterprises.

I know a lot of companies that would not function without this help.

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#82

People with strong opinions usually don't know enough in their field. (Mount stupid) There's no one perfect tool/solution. It's always tradeoffs. People are obsessed promoting their favourite tool/framework etc.. Eventually you realize it's more about the patterns behind them, not the individual solution.

> People are obsessed promoting their favourite tool/framework etc.. Eventually you realize it's more about the patterns behind them, not the individual solution.

I do find working with some technologies or languages a lot more pleasant than others. JavaScript based work is always a pain in the arse.

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#85
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked filling shelves in a supermarket, I disagree that it applies to every field.

Having dated someone who specialised in developing and enforcing visual merchandising guidelines for an international cosmetics brand, I have to suggest that it just might.

Well it doesn’t, given that it only takes one example to negate “every field”.

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#86
post #19

You can always be replaced.

you can but that doesnt mean the company can find an equivalent replacement

That doesn't matter to the company so long as the work gets done and the customer keeps paying.

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#87
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the incredible depth of pretty much every field. Not every practitioner dives deep, but the masters of any job leave me speechless.

Having worked filling shelves in a supermarket, I disagree that it applies to every field.

There is a massive differences between a well-stocked shelf and a poorly stocked shelf. The science behind the product decisions, brand placements, etc, is well-studied and practiced. The store-shelf-stockers themselves have a major impact with their level of detail-oriented work.

I'm sure you could measure it financially, and that a nicely done shelf stock makes more money than a poorly done one.

Re: Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

#90
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but the incredible depth of pretty much every field. Not every practitioner dives deep, but the masters of any job leave me speechless.

Having worked filling shelves in a supermarket, I disagree that it applies to every field.

Don't confuse job in the hierarchy of an industry with the industry itself. For example: a ticket clerk at the train station isn't aware of the complexity of train engines, route planning, economics of public transportation, and so on. It doesn't mean that train transport is simple.
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