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Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

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Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#11

Post by w4tson »

phillipuniverse wrote: post #4

I came across this a while back and is what I tell all the newer people that I mentor: https://blogs.akamai.com/2013/10/you-must-try-and-then-you-m... Some people tend to miss the "You MUST try" part. I am more than happy to take a million questions of the "I tried x, y, z and saw a, b, and c; what's up?" variety. Where it gets frustrating are questions like "I haven't really tried to hunt this down yet, but how do I…

I was just thinking about that article having read this blog. It's a much better rule of thumb than what is being advocated in the title post

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#12

Post by hangonhn »

This is such a bad piece of advice and his story just frames it to make it look sensible.

As "buckbloa" mentioned, "> Spend more time trying to figure things out for yourself before asking for help. Isn't this obvious and don't most developers want to do this?"

The author paints it as if it is a categorical thing but it really isn't. You need to spend time understanding your problem and trying to figure things out. When you go to ask someone for help, it is important to demonstrate that you've at least put some effort into understanding the issues involved. It saves the other person time and effort when you do that and make you not look like a total slacker.

"wyc"'s mantra is good rule of thumb. I'm totally with him on not wanting to work with "rockstars" and other egotistical people. People work in teams for good reasons. This isn't elementary school where they make you work on a team just for the sake for being on a team.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#13

Post by squozzer »

I do not consider myself a rockstar anything. But I like to figure things out, sometimes by reading the man pages (what a concept!), or consulting the Google, or a modest amount of trial and error, er, iteration. If none of these work, then I will ask.

As much as I like teamwork, my team is entitled to a certain level of effort by me to strengthen my skills, which seems best satisfied by a little non-intrusive research on my part.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#15

Post by [deleted] »

hangonhn wrote: post #12

This is such a bad piece of advice and his story just frames it to make it look sensible. As "buckbloa" mentioned, "> Spend more time trying to figure things out for yourself before asking for help. Isn't this obvious and don't most developers want to do this?" The author paints it as if it is a categorical thing but it really isn't. You need to spend time understanding your problem and trying to figure things out. W…

[deleted]

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#16

Post by ishansharma »

phillipuniverse wrote: post #4

I came across this a while back and is what I tell all the newer people that I mentor: https://blogs.akamai.com/2013/10/you-must-try-and-then-you-m... Some people tend to miss the "You MUST try" part. I am more than happy to take a million questions of the "I tried x, y, z and saw a, b, and c; what's up?" variety. Where it gets frustrating are questions like "I haven't really tried to hunt this down yet, but how do I…

Came here thinking exactly this. Lot of us are in situations where time matters quite a bit. After trying some solutions, it is best to ask someone.

People asking how to do something when they haven't tried can get irritating sometimes.

The Akamai post you shared is interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#17

Post by ernestipark »

I think others have touched on how ridiculous this advice is already.

What stood out more to me though is that this person didn't get feedback until they applied for a promotion. Knowing how and when to ask for help should be one of the first things you learn at a new job or company, or as an engineer in general.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#18

Post by bsdpython »

I was told early in my career that I could use to ask for help more often. I think that was actually good advice for me since the other team members all had 10+ years experience so I obviously didn't know everything at 23. To each his own I guess. And I can't believe that developers self reference themselves or others in the field as "rockstars" - I honestly thought that was a layman's term.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#19

Post by jrochkind1 »

I think "never ask for help" is bad advice -- it's actually about asking good questions, not never asking for help.

What makes a "good question" is a topic unto itself. But if you make sure you have a good question first -- sometimes you realize that in formulating the question you've solved it for yourself anyway (rubber ducky), or know how to get the answer from documentation (or... google) without bothering a co-worker. (And yeah, part of a good question is being able to say "I tried X and Y first, and they didn't work because Z")

I think "learn how to ask good questions" is way better advice than "don't ask for help", with some of the same outcomes in terms of your own learning and resilience as well as reducing frequency of asking for help.

And I think nobody should ever use the phrase 'rockstar developer' ever again.

Re: Why Rockstar Developers Don't Ask for Help

#20

Post by wwweston »

> I was stuck in the public forums along with everyone else.

So... still asking for help. :b

I think the best phrasing of the applicable advice might still be in the original feedback:

"Spend more time trying to figure things out for yourself before asking for help."

This isn't the same thing as the title (though, as the author may well know, the chosen title has certain properties that probably make it superior along other axes than how well articulated the advice is).

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