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“Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

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Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#61

Post by tekromancr »

bhouser wrote: post #54
tekromancr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am hourly, and I often find myself shaving my hours if I am unhappy with my output, and other times I can't help myself and I end up working for sixty hours and not put down the overtime. I don't think that this is unusual, it's how you keep a job in a down economy.

I've experienced similar, but only when working hourly from home. I guess I feel responsible for distractions in my own house, but when I'm in the office I have no second thoughts about billing for the time where I did my best in the environment provided.

That's actually the situation I am in. I also feel like any time that I spend researching a solution (reading Blogs, Articles, Building POCs) isn't something that I should bill for. If I had done the same, but I had to go to an office, I wouldn't hesitate to report those hours. I guess it's because the former doesn't "feel" like work.

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#62

Post by bhickey »

walshemj wrote: post #35
comrade_ogilvy wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Describing the entire corporate culture as "A" level is just laughable. And it is an excellent means to cover up bad management. When expectations are unrealistic, then everyone is probably failing. It just boils down to office politics about who avoids blame. It is a nice idea to always be A-level or work towards there -- that requires a significant investment in recruiting and training that few companies are actua…

Yep its like making all the bug fixes priority 1

There's an easy solution to this behavior: If all the bugs are P1, you the developer get to choose what order they go in.

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#63

Post by 31reasons »

rmrfrmrf wrote: post #4

How many companies that tout flexible work schedules actually allow them? In my mind, a flexible work schedule should mean somewhere in the realm of 35-40 hours a week, with those expected occasional 41-60 hr spikes before a deadline. When I talked to a recruiter recently, though, I asked them about their flexible work schedule. What they said was kind of horrifying: "Oh yeah, we're TOTALLY flexible! When there's a d…

I truly believe Programmers should never get a "job". If you are not skilled at all they are really overpaying you and if you have any skill at all, they are really underpaying you. I wish a day when all programmers just work as consultants and paid of every hour they work. Programmers should be treated more like artists or actors.

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#65

Post by rdl »

tekromancr wrote: post #61
bhouser wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've experienced similar, but only when working hourly from home. I guess I feel responsible for distractions in my own house, but when I'm in the office I have no second thoughts about billing for the time where I did my best in the environment provided.

That's actually the situation I am in. I also feel like any time that I spend researching a solution (reading Blogs, Articles, Building POCs) isn't something that I should bill for. If I had done the same, but I had to go to an office, I wouldn't hesitate to report those hours. I guess it's because the former doesn't "feel" like work.

I'd generally take half my normal on-site rate to work from home. Although I'd also take a discounted rate to go to interesting places (assuming travel paid, but even then, it might be a discount), or a surcharge to go somewhere uninteresting and on short notice.

I'd absolutely do IT/satellite stuff in Antarctica if I had nothing else I had to be doing, just for the experience (although I think it also pays decently, like $80k for a season with no other expenses...)

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#66

Post by tomjen3 »

grappler wrote: post #60
eykanal wrote: post #3

What a perfect example of the benefits of open communication. Sarah was a skilled enough boss to make Zach feel comfortable challenging her. Zach was an engaged enough employee to actually discuss something that was bothering him. There are so many ways that this could not have happened. This makes me really want to work with that team.

That reminds me of a stupid thing I said once. At a sprint retrospective, I said something to the effect of “I realize that I could stand to get faster at coding and using the editor shortcuts”. I was fired the next day. Reason given: coding skill.

That may have been the worst thing a manager could possibly do, in that situation.

nobody is ever going to trust that company enough to expose themselves and no improvement Ida going to happen.

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#68

Post by rkroondotnet »

bcoates wrote: post #37
VLM wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which shows the perfect meaninglessness of the netflix slide, the cognitive dissonance of it. "We fire all B performers regardless of effort". Think about that. Pretend you don't know what netflix does. I hope nuclear reactors are run by people like that. Oh that sounds like a good slogan for an open heart surgeon. Secret service agents? No, you say? Hmm how about space shuttle tile installation specialist? I've got…

I think you might be reading a little much into the slide. I think it's obvious that the point is you get no credit for effort expended: you either deliver what is expected of you or you don't. Also, I'm not sure what hellish grading system you're used to where "A" means "1% elite". In most contexts, it means "competent": A student at most educational institutions in the US can expect an A if they grasped the class m…

It's interesting to hear that "A" means "competent" in the USA. I'm assuming that you aren't just making an off the cuff statement of course, and if you aren't I'd like to share some Australian context.

Most people get a "C" or passing grade only in Secondary and Tertiary education. As an Aussie trying to impress American employers (in the past) with my credentials, this goes some way to explaining why they list "GPA 4.0" as required. I know practically nobody with a 4.0 GPA in Sydney.

Here is some more reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_Australia

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#69

Post by tlogan »

eykanal wrote: post #3

What a perfect example of the benefits of open communication. Sarah was a skilled enough boss to make Zach feel comfortable challenging her. Zach was an engaged enough employee to actually discuss something that was bothering him. There are so many ways that this could not have happened. This makes me really want to work with that team.

The open communication does last long (: The problem is the following: the existing managers will move on, the new manager will come, the new employee will come in, ... So... you eventually end up in the same place as in any other company.

Re: “Well, He’s Not Going to Get Very Far”

#70

Post by rdl »

korethr wrote: post #21
rdl wrote: post #15

What is TAGFEE? Is that some SEOmoz-specific term? I found other places they'd used it but no actual description in 2 seconds of googling.

Following the link in the upper right-hand corner, I find a page which talks about being Transparent, Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathetic, and Exceptional. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-we-believe-why-seomozs-tagfe...

Weird, the design of sites (other than this one) has caused me to be totally blind to content in the margin like that; it's usually some kind of social media sharing widget or something.
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