But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment” • Hacker News Board

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#11

Post by bioh42_2 » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:33 PM UTC

I have the great misfortune of working at a big company which has tons and tons of specs AND frequent spec changes.

Our process is waterfall that refuses to accept the reality that marketing runs this company and they change their minds a lot.

My point is only that if there was something better I would quit mediately. But I would rather deal with this at a biotech, then work at the most wonderful company working on social apps, or advertising apps, or ticketing, or booking, etc.

Pick your poison kids.

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#12

Post by eli » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:39 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

There is a sort of stress that comes from a "slow-paced environment" where you've got a 50% or less duty cycle of doing real work because you're always waiting for somebody else to do something. Too little work can be just as stressful as too much.

Having not enough work to do is slightly worse than having too much, IMHO

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#13

Post by wladimir » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:40 PM UTC

bioh42_2 wrote: post #11

I have the great misfortune of working at a big company which has tons and tons of specs AND frequent spec changes. Our process is waterfall that refuses to accept the reality that marketing runs this company and they change their minds a lot. My point is only that if there was something better I would quit mediately. But I would rather deal with this at a biotech, then work at the most wonderful company working on s…

Heh, that sounds very familiar. When I got my job, it was told that the reason for using a waterfall model was that "the specifications are very clear, and developers just have to implement them".

Reality is so different... :)

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#14

Post by bartonfink » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:48 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

There is a sort of stress that comes from a "slow-paced environment" where you've got a 50% or less duty cycle of doing real work because you're always waiting for somebody else to do something. Too little work can be just as stressful as too much.

At every job I've ever had, in the interview I have mentioned that I'd rather have 10 hours of work to squeeze into an 8 hour day than have 2 hours of work to expand into an 8 hour day. Thus far, nobody has taken me seriously.

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#15

Post by rglover » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:51 PM UTC

Fast-paced environment usually describes places that lack an attention to detail and quality, which above anything else should be the core focus of a company. A lot of people are suggesting that pace refers to the amount of work which I don't think is entirely correct. A business could have all the work in the world and still move at a snail's pace. @mrspeaker made an excellent point in that the ideal environment would be "well-paced." More often than not, though, this sort of terminology was probably picked from similar job postings that the HR person (generalizing, of course) saw elsewhere.

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#16

Post by kingofspain » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:52 PM UTC

Reminds me of estate agent talk. "Fast-paced, agile, challenging environment" as a plus point on a job ad usually makes me skip right over. I know people say you should turn your weaknesses into strengths but I don't think this is the way!

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#17

Post by yannickmahe » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:54 PM UTC

I moved from an extremely fast-paced environment to a well balanced, well managed software shop. I regret that choice a lot. While I do have now work/life balance, sleep longer nights and never do any overtime, I can't help but feel I'm not even close to the productive levels I had before. I loved being pushed to my limit, constantly having to come up with new solutions to new problems, etc.

On the plus side, I now have the time to launch my company which will - I hope - give me once again the kind of environment in which I can push my own limits.

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#18

Post by sixtofour » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 2:56 PM UTC

grammaton wrote: post #9

pauldisneyiv wrote: post #4

Interesting - it would be helpful to have a definition of "fast-paced". The phrase is far too vague. I love working very hard (potentially fast) on a product that I'm making great headway on. Perhaps I'm in the zone or I know I need to hit a deadline. That being said if I'm being asked to produce things frantically (also fast paced) with little to no direction or thought behind it...that's not so hot. In general job…

> Interesting - it would be helpful to have a definition of "fast-paced". The phrase is far too vague. Welcome to the wonderful world of MBA-speak.

http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-05-18/

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#19

Post by mildweed » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 3:01 PM UTC

I want to be a Greybeard UNIX monk some day.

Re: But nobody wants a “fast-paced environment”

#20

Post by chrisaycock » Fri, Mar 18, 2011, 3:04 PM UTC

JulianMorrison wrote: post #6

chrisaycock wrote: post #3

A manager once told me, "multitasking may be inefficient, but that's what we do here." Let that admission sink in for a minute.

I'm sorry, I haven't got a minute. Can I let it sink in for 30 seconds, and get back to you?

The manager was admitting to doing something that he knew was inefficient. He ultimately knew that multitasking was the worst practice, but he chose to do it anyway.

There's ignorance, and then there's willfully choosing to do wrong.

Edit: This was at an investment bank, in the proprietary trading group. There are no customers or deadlines. So we (should) only work on something we believe will make money.