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Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

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Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#131

Post by quickthrower2 »

One way to address is for the manager to make sure the work is chunked down.

Where I see the mentioned problem the most is when teams are too busy. The manager (as in team leader) is putting out fires and does not have the time and/or will to mentor and direct the team members that go off track.

I think it is everyones job to make sure they are not too busy. Being too busy for basic processes is an antipattern and flag that things need to be reprioritised. Someone needs to walk away from the screen (or in covid times towards it) and talk to their boss!

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#133

Post by SkyPuncher »

Victerius wrote: post #86
abofh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not wrong. I generally sell as a mercenary, and prefer it that way - I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. I'm paid just as well if they want to "pair program" or jira the whole process, but yeah, you hired me to fix a problem - if you are the problem, I get paid just the same. Welcome to the real world, if your work is interesting, the clock might not turn on when I'm having f…

> I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. In what organisation do 25 year olds manage 50 year olds?

Not as extreme, but not far off. I believe I'm the youngest person on the team I manage.

I've spent a lot of time in startups - including way too many hours in my 20's working on side-hustles (wife was in med school, so it was kind of my thing to do). I've ended up in a situation where my technical skills are strong (but not the best on my team), but my business/startup knowledge is much better so I can help to ensure everyone is working towards the most impactful/valuable outcomes.

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#135

Post by mbrameld »

Victerius wrote: post #86
abofh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not wrong. I generally sell as a mercenary, and prefer it that way - I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. I'm paid just as well if they want to "pair program" or jira the whole process, but yeah, you hired me to fix a problem - if you are the problem, I get paid just the same. Welcome to the real world, if your work is interesting, the clock might not turn on when I'm having f…

> I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. In what organisation do 25 year olds manage 50 year olds?

It's not unusual in the US military for a lieutenant or captain in their early 20s to manage many senior non-commissioned officers in their late 40s.

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#137

Post by Cederfjard »

Buttons840 wrote: post #27
alexfromapex wrote: post #7

I've been guilty of this at times but what I would add is a certain type of environment encourages this behavior. If the business or teammates are very reluctant to let engineers work on what they want or give harsh feedback it encourages people to retreat into their safe space and try to create something they feel is worthy of feedback.

Yes. I do this because interactions with others are a net negative at my place of work. In terms of quantifiable rewards, 99% of interactions are +5 or +10, etc, mixed in with the occasional -15000. In the end the expected value of interactions is negative. All because of one or two very bad interactions a year; the rest being positive, but close to neutral.

What kind of interactions are those extremely negative ones, if you don’t mind elaborating?

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#138

Post by asow92 »

Victerius wrote: post #86
abofh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are not wrong. I generally sell as a mercenary, and prefer it that way - I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. I'm paid just as well if they want to "pair program" or jira the whole process, but yeah, you hired me to fix a problem - if you are the problem, I get paid just the same. Welcome to the real world, if your work is interesting, the clock might not turn on when I'm having f…

> I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. In what organisation do 25 year olds manage 50 year olds?

A few years ago, I was a "team lead" at the age of 27 managing a team that included one developer over 50 at a big TV network company.

We're both at different companies nowadays, but I've been trying to get him started at my current company's team (which I am senior on, but not a lead) for a while now and he's considering it!

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#139

Post by aimor »

sdoering wrote: post #29

I was more often than not 'guilty' of what the author describes. And I actually love being the lone detective on the hunt for a cool solution. I am not a dev by trade (data analyst) but still love to work on problems solved in code. A lot of the advice hit home, but what struck me was this part: > Encourage engineers to get something end to end launched internally as quickly as possible. This is something my boss nev…

I still find it amazing how many "first small thing end to end" wind up being the last major version for years. That's not a bad thing, I've grown to love it, and I think it's a tenet I should make a more conscious effort towards.

Re: Doing too much work on one's own before looping in others

#140

Post by dhosek »

Hermitian909 wrote: post #96
Victerius wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been doing this longer than some of my managers have been alive. In what organisation do 25 year olds manage 50 year olds?

I've known people who submitted working patches to the Linux kernel at 13, which I'd say is a reasonable start for "doing this". A 30 year old managing a 43 year old would not be strange at all.

Exactly, I started programming in AppleSoft BASIC when I was 11, picked up 6502 Assembly and Pascal before high school and added C, Rexx. 370 assembler and FORTRAN before I started college. I was 28 the first time I had a manager younger than me. I think the last time I had a manager older than me was when I had a job where my direct report was to the CTO.
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