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Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#181
I've learned to cherish my co-worker and let the boss do his bossy stuff as long as he didn't fight against the team.

Stand together with your co-workers as a team. I think thats more usefull and can balancing out the shity boss stuff.

Maybe one good boss under a million bosses will exist i think. If you can't find it, do it by yourself and be your own boss. But at least, there is no boss like the girlfriend||wife that waits for you at home! :D

Just some thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he designs the best fighter plane ever flown by pilots Easy there, comrade.

Perhaps I was a little hasty making that assertion. I'd be very interested in hearing about a plane that was actually built that improved on Boyd's design.

I was making a joke based on a sweeping breadth of your statement and the fact that every single Russian would disagree that Americans could built a better plane, leave alone the best one. In particular, it is a common belief that any Sukhoi would fly circles around a comparable F, and Mig would do the same, just not as elegantly.

That said, I am curious what were comparing Boyd's F-15 to.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

Interestingly enough (in the context of this thread) my personal corollary to that is: "Never attribute to incompetence that which is adequately explained by bad management."

Pretty much a noop, since bad management is a subcategory of incompetence.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#185
It only happens in dreamland :) option (4). In practical, its a human tendency that after some time either we get irritated by each other or we start finding flaws in any decision taken by the management or vice versa.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he designs the best fighter plane ever flown by pilots Easy there, comrade.

Perhaps I was a little hasty making that assertion. I'd be very interested in hearing about a plane that was actually built that improved on Boyd's design.

If you're comparing within generations, he's probably talking about the Su-27 and MiG-29. Kinematically, those two platforms are probably able to match or exceed the F-15 and F-16 in at least some flight regimes. Remember that when Boyd applied his design principles, they were set up to design planes that could defeat any current designs - the performance characteristics of the Flanker and Fulcrum were not really known at the time.

If you're comparing across generations, I think it's pretty fair to assume that many of the 5th generation fighters are likely kinematically better than either the F-15 or F-16 in dog-fighting engagements. You can hear a US Airforce talk that includes a discussion about engaging F-22s in dog fighting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKEa-R37PeU. Wanna skip to 7:50 or so, but the whole thing is pretty interesting if you're into that type of thing

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#187
I think this is a fairly typical scenario. The "honeymoon" period as you call it is the phase when everything thing is new and you are learning quite a bit in this new environment. Meeting new people, learning new processes, dealing with new problems. After a couple of years you've become the cog in the machine and little new is left to learn -- it becomes routine allowing you more time to pay more attention to management decisions without actually being in their shoes.

Just like any relationship that fizzles out after the initial honeymoon phase when you're learning about each other, it becomes your responsibility to keep things interesting. Take initiative on starting new projects, look for needs and innovate from within the company (being an entrepreneur doesn't always mean you have to start a new company), and most importantly always keep you manager in the loop.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#188
post #53

I think it would be helpful to try to understand the perspective of management. Consider an extreme stereotype: the "business school guy." He went to XYZ school of management, where he learned that a business is an organization that takes in raw materials and creates something more valuable than the sum of the unfinished parts. He learned how to raise money by selling his business idea to other people who think like…

> The point is that generally people in management can be assumed to be doing their best. Despite what hacker news and TechCrunch try to convince you, running a company is a job just the same as building an engineering system.

Your analogy is excellent, but you don't follow through with it all the way. I don't think it's fair to say managers are generally doing the best job they can any more than it's fair to say that systems are engineered as well as they can be. Most software is buggy and barely serviceable, and I don't doubt that is true for management as well.

I'm not in the same camp as engineers who think management is worthless, mind you. Indeed, my experience with engineering teams has taught me that good management is worth it's weight in gold. But it's also scarce.

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#189
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

I cringe each time I read this quote. It isn't helpful. I have had too many people take advantage of "second chances" by pleading ignorance. Maybe I'm just too cynical. The only take away here is that you have to treat malice and stupidity the same. The person in question either messed up intentionally, or is too stupid to do their job. You should fire them, or quit, whichever position you happen to be in.

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

Re: Ask HN: Is it me or ...?

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you find such consulting work? Surely not craigslist . Then where? Should I buy leads from Adwords? Do you need to become a partner for an ERP software company? How successful will you be calling yourself a 'consultant'.

email me :)

sent you an email just now!
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