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Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

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Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#31

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

> I've learned it better to communicate

Good advice for almost any situation.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#32

Post by duxup »

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

So many developer stories out there where it doesn't sound like they ever really had a direct talk with their boss.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#33

Post by throwarayes »

exabrial wrote: post #10

I would approach this with a dose of humility. I used to think I had it all figured out too; now, older me realizes how ignorant I was and surprised how tolerant management was of my flagrant pomposity.

I agree. However life is short and after trying half a dozen things over a year, it’s creating a lot of mental health problems for me.

It is likely I have failed. I have tremendous empathy for this boss. But I also have to think of my strengths and where I can be successful elsewhere.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#34

Post by visarga »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

Become a "research engineer", take projects that need research.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#35

Post by [deleted] »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

[deleted]

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#36

Post by atomflunder »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

Worth looking into any COSS (commercial open source) companies that you find interesting. That’s where you write the code that then others glue together - plus you can inspect the codebase beforehand!

Shameless plug: We are hiring at Jina AI https://jobs.lever.co/jina-ai

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#37

Post by treyfitty »

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

Communication is a 2-way street. From experience, this approach doesn't work if your manager is dogmatic/egotistical and unwilling to hear you.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#38

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

My experience is that shipping is boring.

If I want to ship my software, as opposed to just write it, I need to use tech that's a couple of clicks back from "bleeding edge," and spend a lot of time, "polishing the fenders."

B O R I N G

But I get a kick out of seeing my software out there, ready to be integrated into other people's software (90% of the time, I'm my own best customer, but I write all of my software as if it were being adopted by a Fortune 50 company).

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#39

Post by baby »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

Early employee at a startup?

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#40

Post by ajmurmann »

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

It depends on the company's product. At a very large company you might find the odd team that's building some interesting new, internal framework or infrastructure. If you want to stay away from CRUD your best bet though might be a company where the CRUD isn't the core of what provides user value. Examples that come to mind immediately (since that's where I work right now) are data offerings. Lots of interesting new and existing data stores these days and unless you end up on the, likely very small GUI team, it's all hardcore coding. I would expect similar from some ML products.
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