Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years • Hacker News Board

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#271

Post by lazide » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:47 AM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #219

gameswithgo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't companies just speak plainly about these kinds of changes? "We are doing this to cut costs, which we need to do to [Survive/Buy a Yacht/Whatever]" People tend to be really understanding when you are brutally honest, and brutally cynical when you bullshit them even a little.

Good executives do do this, Ben Horowitz addresses it explicitly in The Hard Thing About Hard Things, but I've also seen it personally from good executives I've worked for. It's bad ones that think they can spin something negative into something positive. All it does is break trust and employees just think they're full of shit. The urge to spin things positively is the common default though for new execs for some rea…

It’s the default ‘easy’ answer - telling a bunch of people something that sucks is risky and scary and many times they don’t even know how to process it themselves, or that they will be ok if they do.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#272

Post by lazide » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:52 AM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #266

coryrc wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not working for twenty years (in the prime time for earning money) is not "stumbling once".

In that case the issue was that he had to stop working to take care of his mother. In most civilized countries, his mother would have sufficient help from government healthcare.

Depending on how sick she was there are such programs in every state. If she needed round the clock care like it sounds, she was sick enough most likely.

He also could probably have declared bankruptcy early and been able to focus more on learning useful skills instead of killing himself trying to pay bills he never could. That is what bankruptcy is for.

But hard to say what was really going on.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#273

Post by lazide » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:55 AM UTC

coryrc wrote: post #263

dragonwriter wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, long-term care is not just an opportunity to accidentally (from the perspective of the holder, not the system) get rid of one’s accumulated wealth, it is often the motivation for intentionally doing so prematurely, in order to qualify for Medicaid (which pays for the majority of long-term care in the US.) OTOH, for people who don’t have the knowledge or professional advice to do this (which, of course, co…

Every dollar spent on the elderly who had their whole life to prepare is a dollar not spent on a child growing up in poverty who has not yet had a chance. Families should take care of their own. If nobody is willing to do that for you, you probably aren't deserving.

Well, except it isn’t right? We can and do budget them separately.

Might be more fair to say ‘every tomahawk missle fired randomly at a target at the Middle East is an entire middle class families lifetime income down the tubes’.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#274

Post by acjohnson55 » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:57 AM UTC

sam0x17 wrote: post #35

sam0x17 wrote: post #24

It isn't just Lambda School. I mentor for [insert large coding bootcamp here] and I will say things have been going badly across the board for more than 50% of students. They recently had to cut a lot of staff, and completion rates seem to hover around only 50-60% when you take into account all the students they remove from this calculation when they withdraw for "personal reasons". The employment numbers I don't hav…

One huge mistake I think a lot (but not all of) the bootcamps are making is taking the easy route of simply using JavaScript to teach both frontend and backend. JavaScript is a TERRIBLE first programming language. I usually have to spend 2-3 sessions per mentee explaining the idiosyncrasies of JavaScript, where some of the OOP concepts actually come from, and how things work in other languages to put into context the…

JavaScript is a totally reasonable first language, considering it's unavoidable in web dev. As a former teacher, I think you might consider the way your own context might color your messaging to your students, and how their context might be completely different. They don't need to understand JavaScript, in all its layers and quirks. They just need to get simple things done to begin to develop an intuition for the platform.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#275

Post by lazide » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:57 AM UTC

leetcrew wrote: post #239

RobertRoberts wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't people choose to refuse medical help? The only reason I see expenses really causing massive debt is if you choose to accept/request medical procedures you can't pay for. While it's morbid to consider the idea of just letting yourself die because you don't want to go into debt, it still is a choice... isn't it?

not always. you obviously don't get to choose if you're unconscious and someone calls an ambulance for you. or if you get a concussion or injure yourself while intoxicated, you might not be able to fully consent to being taken to the hospital. even DNRs are not always respected.

A friend of mine has terminal cancer and is in a place like this - DNR’s pasted everywhere as the worst fear he has is he’ll get rescucitated and be even worse off.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#276

Post by dnautics » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:59 AM UTC

lazide wrote: post #162

gameswithgo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't companies just speak plainly about these kinds of changes? "We are doing this to cut costs, which we need to do to [Survive/Buy a Yacht/Whatever]" People tend to be really understanding when you are brutally honest, and brutally cynical when you bullshit them even a little.

For engineering or other pragmatic types? Definitely. For those who are used to hard reality and know how to make it fit in a nice way or move on like field sales? Often. For most everyone else? There is often a need to provide at least some surface ‘here is why everything is not actually super terrible so you should stay’ sugar coating or it is not going to go down well. The larger the group, the more apparent the e…

> ... For engineering or other pragmatic types?

This does not apply to people who chose to go to a coding bootcamp?

> ... For those who are used to hard reality

This does not apply to people who chose to go to a coding bootcamp to avoid a life of a menial, lower-paying job?

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#277

Post by lazide » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 1:59 AM UTC

nzmsv wrote: post #247

lazide wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For engineering or other pragmatic types? Definitely. For those who are used to hard reality and know how to make it fit in a nice way or move on like field sales? Often. For most everyone else? There is often a need to provide at least some surface ‘here is why everything is not actually super terrible so you should stay’ sugar coating or it is not going to go down well. The larger the group, the more apparent the e…

This is a little ironic... - We really don't appreciate bullshit, all it does is erode trust - No, no, let me explain how bullshit is actually good for you...

Oh I’m not saying bullshit is good! I’m saying in some situations, with large enough groups of people? The non-bullshit isn’t going to be good either.

There is a reason 99% of politics is bullshit. shrug

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#278

Post by harry8 » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 2:03 AM UTC

lmm wrote: post #270

harry8 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an issue in market information where regulation can't really work [1]. Vendors have a brand. They establish the value of the brand such that purchasers have a signal that they aren't going to be ripped off. For example you can be pretty sure coca-cola isn't going to cut costs to the point where they don't care about putting poison in the bottle - and you don't need regulation to know they won't do it. Zeus-Cola?…

I keep redrafting a blog post in my head about this cycle and how it means that even though the world is getting better, every specific brand is getting worse. (There was a wonderful post about Starbucks specifically that I now can't find, talking about how they grew their reputation by having hand-made coffee that people loved before switching to machine brewing that required less skill and people wouldn't hate). I…

Yeah it's a reasonable point of view. The other way to go on that is you're in an country whose culture you don't understand which as a wildly corrupt, crony-riddled military dictator and nobody has any rights at all.

Do you want locally bottled Coke(tm) with the red label and dynamic ribbon for your very thirsty child or locally bottled "Odin's Thirst Quencher! (est. 2021)"?

Coke are going to enforce quality control and safety to protect their brand or get out of that market. There is no regulation you can rely on in this mythical country - but there are quite a few countries like that which you may know yourself from having visited them. In France, say, you have regulation that safety is not a concern. When you don't have it you have brands - the owner has the incentive to protect them. So it goes also in France, or the USA or other wealthy countries to the parts of commerce that are not regulated (whether they could be or whether that's because it's not feasible).

But the higher issue is information. Should you be able to sell the same product with a very different quality under the same name? Let's say we agree the answer is ideally "no, you can't do that." Now we want to regulate that you can't do that. How is it enforced? There may be ways. There may be grey areas. The cost may be prohibitive in many instances or there might be new solutions to mitigate those problems.

What is isn't is easy which you can see as soon as you apply it to the industry and case under discussion. Intensive industry training schools.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#279

Post by aseipp » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 2:04 AM UTC

RobertRoberts wrote: post #124

ericb wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's the issue. The issue is that the United States provides such a poor safety net for those with health issues that one person's failing health destroys the economic potential of one or more people around them. From a sheer utilitarian perspective, healthcare and safety nets are positive ROI. Imagine the job-producing startups that don't exist because "how do you pay for insurance?"

Can't people choose to refuse medical help? The only reason I see expenses really causing massive debt is if you choose to accept/request medical procedures you can't pay for. While it's morbid to consider the idea of just letting yourself die because you don't want to go into debt, it still is a choice... isn't it?

> While it's morbid to consider the idea of just letting yourself die because you don't want to go into debt, it still is a choice... isn't it?

No. I'm glad I could clear up this very difficult topic for you.

Re: Lambda School leaked documents show poor performance over the last two years

#280

Post by gonehome » Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 2:04 AM UTC

lazide wrote: post #271

gonehome wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good executives do do this, Ben Horowitz addresses it explicitly in The Hard Thing About Hard Things, but I've also seen it personally from good executives I've worked for. It's bad ones that think they can spin something negative into something positive. All it does is break trust and employees just think they're full of shit. The urge to spin things positively is the common default though for new execs for some rea…

It’s the default ‘easy’ answer - telling a bunch of people something that sucks is risky and scary and many times they don’t even know how to process it themselves, or that they will be ok if they do.

Yeah - I suspect they may be lying to themselves first.

It’s also possible they rationalize it in some way that they’re “protecting their employees” from the bad news. In practice people like to be clued in to the truth and are more likely to respond positively to honesty in my experience.