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Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

tucker.wales

21–30 of 76 posts

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#21
post #5

OT: This is the first time in a while that I’ve seen the phrase “load-bearing” used in a natural way. :-)

Is it natural? It immediately made me suspect AI, if for no other reason than every human is avoiding it now so they’re not confused with AI. Props to the author if they simply don’t care though.

FWIW I've been saying it in a sarcastic way since I was in my teens because of the Simpsons where Bart says "It's a load bearing poster." I assume if anyone uses the phrase (that isn't like a civil engineer) it probably came from here lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRVExJZKIT8

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#22
post #16

Nobody talks about SEI anymore but their Capability Maturity Model informed and/or aligned with how I approach new-to-me projects whether that 'new role' is internal or a new employer. CMM says that an engineering team whose processes aren't written down is level 0, and writing them down, even if they are batshit, gets you to level 1. Which leads to a fun bit of catharsis with the older employees where they get to sa…

I do the same. You work your way around the edges and get a genuinely good feel for the workflow while improving on it as you go.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#23
This article is highly AI generated. The first paragraph is probably not AI generated, but the rest is definitely.

I also double checked on gptzero me and it 100% agrees with me.

I'm curious to know though whether or not the "author" used Gemini. I've been using Gemini a lot in the past year, and the writing sounds exactly like Gemini. But it's possible that all the models sound the same.

Edit: I'd like to add that I still liked the article and agree with it, and in general I find Gemini's writing style to be quite enjoyable.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#24
post #23

This article is highly AI generated. The first paragraph is probably not AI generated, but the rest is definitely. I also double checked on gptzero me and it 100% agrees with me. I'm curious to know though whether or not the "author" used Gemini. I've been using Gemini a lot in the past year, and the writing sounds exactly like Gemini. But it's possible that all the models sound the same. Edit: I'd like to add that I…

I think this comment is AI generated.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#25
post #22
post #16

Nobody talks about SEI anymore but their Capability Maturity Model informed and/or aligned with how I approach new-to-me projects whether that 'new role' is internal or a new employer. CMM says that an engineering team whose processes aren't written down is level 0, and writing them down, even if they are batshit, gets you to level 1. Which leads to a fun bit of catharsis with the older employees where they get to sa…

I do the same. You work your way around the edges and get a genuinely good feel for the workflow while improving on it as you go.

I also repeat the process with people that I'm responsible for onboarding. But it becomes my responsibility to compliment their contributions to the project in those early days so that it quells their nervousness about me tapping the brakes on their Bias Toward Action.

This is action, just not action that can tarnish both of us by shipping bugs to production.

Edit to add: I used to take ex coworkers out for coffee or beers around their last day and ask for a rundown of all the reasons they left. What you generally find if you let them keep talking is that they will run through the problems in reverse chronological order. The last thing they will mention is almost always what a joke the onboarding process was.

Last straws are the most recent thing that set the person off. All the straws before it add up, and if a person is already questioning the maturity of the organization on day 2 on the team, then I believe that multiplies your turnover rate. The longer you can go before a new employee says "what the actual fuck", is a multiplier on how long they will stick around.

Effectively, I think "the first 100 days" rule of thumb goes both ways. You get 100 days to show you're useful as an employee, but everyone already on the team is being held to the same yardstick by new employees. And if you're hiring at a high enough rate, having 20% of the team think the old employees are a waste of oxygen is not good for consensus building.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#26
Sort of the antithesis of "Move fast and break things." I find it quite reasonable, but also despair that this advice even needs to be given. It's just basic "horse sense."

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a5/b3/10/a5b31033a487595f913639c35...

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#27
post #16

Nobody talks about SEI anymore but their Capability Maturity Model informed and/or aligned with how I approach new-to-me projects whether that 'new role' is internal or a new employer. CMM says that an engineering team whose processes aren't written down is level 0, and writing them down, even if they are batshit, gets you to level 1. Which leads to a fun bit of catharsis with the older employees where they get to sa…

It's also, inevitably, the newest people who are often the best at fixing basic documentation — because they're the ones who don't already know it.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#28
My experience as a long time corporate software developer is an exceptionally heavy bias towards inaction. There always seems to be fear and hesitation towards any kind of pivot or new initiative outside the rails of comfort. For example most corporate software developers cannot write an original new application from the ground up no matter how tiny or simplistic.

In such environments the people that do demonstrate a bias towards action tend to fall into one of two camps: those that wish they hadn't and those that are chasing attention.

The corporate developers who do have an overwhelming bias towards action, not the sociopath attention chasers, just end up contributing to open source projects unrelated to employment tasks.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#29
This article is great advice that I should take if I ever get a role where I’m not going to be pressured into delivering some kind of low-value BS during Phase 2 that causes me to hasten the delivery the most useful organisational changes I can. I can’t help myself when the wick gets turned up.

As a result, after 15 years as a software engineer, I’m genuinely considering leaving the industry altogether because the only roles available to me are ones where I’m expected to deliver features rather than organisational change and growth. It’s like my heaps of experience have navigated my career into a cup-de-sac, and the only way out is backwards. I’m so jaded. Hopefully it’s a phase. I need a coach. Help.

Re: Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role

#30
post #23

This article is highly AI generated. The first paragraph is probably not AI generated, but the rest is definitely. I also double checked on gptzero me and it 100% agrees with me. I'm curious to know though whether or not the "author" used Gemini. I've been using Gemini a lot in the past year, and the writing sounds exactly like Gemini. But it's possible that all the models sound the same. Edit: I'd like to add that I…

Definitely stinks of LLM phrasing, metering, and punctuation. But I'd say the ideas are the author's alone and they do cut through.
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