It might help to see these not as opportunities to be frustrated but as opportunities to be gracious and forgiving. It’s like seeing money fall out of a stranger’s pocket: it can be an opportunity to steal or an opportunity to help.
Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
11–20 of 51 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#12Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#13- People are being challenged
- Situations are rapidly changing course, and people have to adapt quickly.
- People are trying to do their jobs while worrying about their finances, or how they're going to home school their kids, or daycare, or them or their spouses losing their job.
It's fine, everyone will adapt to the new normal, whatever that ends up looking like.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#14I worry often that my perception of this is biased because I'm young and "this has always happened" but I fully agree with you, and it's across the spectrum of importance. Hire a contractor to power wash part of a house, and they simply _did not do half the work._ Not a matter of a half-assed job, simply was not even done. When called back, they proceeded to skimp in almost the same way, except when confronted over t…
"I feel like if I was this bad at my job I'd be fired in an instant..." Yes! I look at these other jobs and think how great it would be to work in a position that had no accountability.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#15I worry often that my perception of this is biased because I'm young and "this has always happened" but I fully agree with you, and it's across the spectrum of importance. Hire a contractor to power wash part of a house, and they simply _did not do half the work._ Not a matter of a half-assed job, simply was not even done. When called back, they proceeded to skimp in almost the same way, except when confronted over t…
"I feel like if I was this bad at my job I'd be fired in an instant..." Yes! I look at these other jobs and think how great it would be to work in a position that had no accountability.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#16And the other factor in the modern era is that everyone is overworked and / or underpaid. The motivation to do something properly is gone. I would not be surprised those jobs you mentioned are now doing 2x the workload compare to 20 to 30 years ago while earning a quality of life ( Even Money over inflation may not be a clear indicator ) that is lower than what it was 20 - 30 years ago. Comparatively Speaking.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#17Generally I find greater competency on average. I just accept that a person can be competent at doing something I don’t like.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#18Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#19I think it is more likely that the change is in you. It has been a stressful year and you may be keeping score more than you did in the past. When things are hard we try to find fault in others, which is a painfully easy thing to do. It might help to see these not as opportunities to be frustrated but as opportunities to be gracious and forgiving. It’s like seeing money fall out of a stranger’s pocket: it can be an o…
So there's a lot of stuff I could do against people, but I'm not. I'm trying to give people the benefit of doubt or correct their mistake, but they are making it very difficult.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else notice increased incompetence?
#20I worry often that my perception of this is biased because I'm young and "this has always happened" but I fully agree with you, and it's across the spectrum of importance. Hire a contractor to power wash part of a house, and they simply _did not do half the work._ Not a matter of a half-assed job, simply was not even done. When called back, they proceeded to skimp in almost the same way, except when confronted over t…
But the best is probably the contractor drama of several years ago. One plumber left the country and did not return. This would have been fine, except that he left a vent pipe unblocked when he removed the toilet or sink or whatever. Then we had a really cold winter and the rats found their way into the house by that route.