Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
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Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
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Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#2This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash.
There's a big difference between "I'm going to put this into prod on tuesday unless you tell me otherwise" vs "I'm going to put a prototype together for review on Tuesday unless you tell me this is a waste of time"
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#3This is one of the articles where I'm immediately grateful to the author to have written it down. Very good and easy to pick up point, actionable advice. I would just slightly modify it, don't create a time bomb. "I would like to... until date XY" should achieve the same effect -- not inviting bikeshedding or delaying action, sending "I got this" -- without pressurising anyone else for taking a decision or too much responsibility.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#4This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash. There's a big difference between "I'm going to put this into prod on tuesday unless you tell me otherwise" vs "I'm going to put a prototype together for review on Tuesday unless you tell me this is a waste of time"
I'm going to cause an expensive outage that will ruin the company, and our careers unless you say no to sugar in the coffee!!!!
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#5This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash. There's a big difference between "I'm going to put this into prod on tuesday unless you tell me otherwise" vs "I'm going to put a prototype together for review on Tuesday unless you tell me this is a waste of time"
Well a prerequisite is knowing what you’re doing. If you don’t, then yeah, don’t use this approach.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#6This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash. There's a big difference between "I'm going to put this into prod on tuesday unless you tell me otherwise" vs "I'm going to put a prototype together for review on Tuesday unless you tell me this is a waste of time"
Huge disagree, as a manager. It depends on the thing, of course. If you're rushing into a giant re-architecture by Tuesday, that's dumb. If you have some change you want to make, go for it.
My default is to trust engineers based on my experience with and expectations for them. If they want input—anything from a deep review to a gut check—I'm happy to help. If you're looking for a gut check, this is a fine way to do it. It communicates your level of confidence, which is an important data point for me.
If someone is adding a GH action, do we need a prototype? Maybe! But also maybe not. Bias towards action. Not YOLOing, not hacked together crap, not vibe code merged without review. But I've found that great engineers are often more hamstrung by permission checks than the issues they're meant to prevent.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#7Another great Life Pro Tip is "Never accept 'no' from someone who can't say 'yes'."
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#8This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash. There's a big difference between "I'm going to put this into prod on tuesday unless you tell me otherwise" vs "I'm going to put a prototype together for review on Tuesday unless you tell me this is a waste of time"
> This is great advice to become a pain in the ass that managers know they need to keep on a short leash.
Not really. The advice is prefixed with this context.
> When you have something you want to do and that you feel is in scope for your position, but you want a bit of reassurance or to let the boss know what you are up to
Basically it's saying if it's your job to make this decision, but it's something where the boss needs to know (or you need them to know because you need a small amount of reassurance), then asking for "yes" fails to communicate your understanding in that regard.
Asking for "yes" says it's the boss's job to make this decision - but we're talking about decisions where you believe it's your job make it.
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#9Some previous discussion:
Re: Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
#10I've heard this called "lazy consensus". Basically, rather than say, "Is it OK if I do X?" Say, "I'm going to do X on date Y unless someone objects." Particularly useful as the number of stakeholders grows.