Theoretically this is the military's entire job.
Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
191–200 of 446 posts
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#192Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf] I'm reminded of this every time I see some YouTuber or other social media click bait claiming that the Y2K bug was no big deal. The reason it was no big deal is because thousands of graybeards, like myself, stayed up many long nights for months ahead of time making sure things would work. I still remember the tension during the countdown to…
Depending on which Y2K bug you're referring to, this very much happened and is an easily believable scenario. I don't think this is a comparable situation.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still don't quite buy that. Surely it's because computers mostly use epoch time for dates, not dd/mm/yy? Guess we'll find out in 2038.
Many old programs written last century did not use epoch time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem#On_1_January...
It's worth noting that most of the programs affected would not be the ones people used on their private pc.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#194I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.
I think an underrated way to deal with this phenomenon is proper self-marketing. Talk endlessly what you have done to prevent catastrophe. Describe the avoided catastrophes vividly so that people get a clear picture.
Self-promotion is incredibly difficult for some people.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#195This us an incentives problem, plain and simple. Its extremely difficult to quantify things that don't happen, and because we've been building our economies and societies around a heavy focus on quantitative metrics we end up only incentivizing people to solve problems. Even create problems on purpose if you need to, you'll get credit for fixing them. Human Resources departments often run into this exact scenario. Ma…
I wonder if this is why some managers seem to go out of their way to generate chaos. I have no patience for it, and judge them harshly for it. They don’t get any credit if my book for “solving” problems they pulled out of their back side or willfully ignored planning for.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#196I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.
My anecdata is to be vocal about your works, like having short knowledge sharing sessions to show it to your team/manager. Don’t be afraid of little things, your team would learn something from it.
Agreed but selling your work is an art. Sometimes folks try and sell it so often that it makes me wonder if they are really getting anything done.
Having a boss that loves to sell his team's work to his boss also works wonders.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#197This is true in a sense but also it isn't. Our institutions spend a lot of resources on preventing things from happening, are successful, and the people who work in these institutions get a paycheque every month. One could frame the entire US military budget as preventative spend.
>One could frame the entire US military budget as preventative spend.
A decent percentage of the population thinks the country should reduce military spending, because they are undervaluing the preventative spend.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#198Yup My manager just told me I got a 3/5 on my eval yet again because in the past six months - I did everything that was asked of me and - I did a lot of things that weren't asked of me and - I didn't catch anything on fire and - I put out someone else's fire and - I prevented several fires from ever being started in the first place, but that's not good enough. The person who started the fire that I put out is getting…
Don't take it personally, managers at bigger companies have to evaluate their teams on a bell curve. The whole team can't score a 5 and someone has to be worse than the group.
It sounds like the fire starter should get the worse score. Of course, we’re only hearing one side of the story.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#199Welcome to Infosec.
Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]
#200I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.
Life and its rewards aren't perfect. Work with honest, intelligent people; genuinely do your best; your days will be much better and the odds will be with you.
However, those who choose to be dishonest are more possible to be your leaders.