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Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

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Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#261

Post by ozim »

ponector wrote: post #80
runamuck wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy - half a$$ your code and when it breaks - swoop in, "fix things" (actually do it right) and play the role of hero! (I've seen so-called "Rock Stars" at places I worked do this over and over)

It is more easy: do your job right, but do not comment, fix or somehow improve work of your colleagues. Let them fail, aknowledge failure and only then come with fix, get all praise. Never point to the possible issues at the code reviews, retirement refinements etc.

That is naive take, you really think if you work hard on improving code, pointing out flaws, there will never be any issues?

In reality that I live, there is never enough time, if you have 3-4 team mates pumping features out, it is already impossible to prevent every problem and review every piece of code.

I don't have to be cynical about it, it just happens that issues will crop up over time and I am there to fix them and there is never enough time to prevent them up-front, because if you will try then you will never deliver anything. Ship fast and break things is maybe too far - but still shipping something beats not shipping ideal state.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#262

Post by SilkRoadie »

hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

I went on holiday for 2 weeks. Came back to find the team had spent a week on a 5 minute task that had been clearly documented. Nothing had moved forward. Spoke to my manager that day and from that day forward it was clear what my value was. Eventually lead the team and helped the team develop processes and initiative so they could be productive in my absence.

Up until that point I knew my value but I don’t think anyone else quite got it.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#264

Post by loceng »

hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

At least you're likely not a person who works at a freelance agency where you purposefully do poor work or break things, so then you can bill more time "fixing" the problem - until the client gets the wiser at least, or there's another more oblivious client you can grift much more easily who doesn't know better?

The above seems to be how the top billing agencies on Upwork function, with fewer staff you can grift more people because the hours being billed aren't honest, and so you can have more clients and reach the "top" earnings position faster and more easily; with the same practices existing at least on one of the two prior platforms before oDesk and Elance merged.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#265

Post by sbdmmg »

runamuck wrote: post #29
hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

Easy - half a$$ your code and when it breaks - swoop in, "fix things" (actually do it right) and play the role of hero! (I've seen so-called "Rock Stars" at places I worked do this over and over)

This is a slippery slope, IMHO. It can easily get you to be the next "tactical tornado" of your team (cf. John Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design).

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#266

Post by threatripper »

hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

If they don't pay you to fix those problems then don't fix those problems until they start paying you for it. You'll have to deal with the psychological torture of watching things go horribly wrong. So it's up to you how to deal with it.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#267

Post by throwaway2037 »

hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

Don't help anyone too much until a manager asks you to help. If someone is really pressing help, tell them that you are busy, but they can ask the manager to tell me to help. This way, you always get maximum credit. Every single manager that I have worked for claimed they were "different" and did not suffer from it. Usually, I give them many chances to see my value. After I am overlooked too many times, I revert to this selfish mode explained previously. In all such cases, my recognition from the manager improves. Sigh.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#268

Post by mym1990 »

hresvelgr wrote: post #240
jqcoffey wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Work with honest, intelligent people This is good advice that’s well intentioned, but (sorry), it can be interpreted as elitist, and in a way that’s detrimental to the reader. I am no way suggesting that this is the intention or belief of the parent, but while I’ve got more miles on my odometer than I’d prefer, they’ve informed me that “reasonable” is better than “intelligent.” My god how I’ve found that working wi…

> This is good advice that’s well intentioned, but (sorry), it can be interpreted as elitist, and in a way that’s detrimental to the reader. There's nothing wrong with elitism as long as it leads to initiation rather than gatekeeping. > My god how I’ve found that working with reasonable people is so much healthier. Could not agree more. Most people can be trained well to do any job required of them. What cannot be tr…

Elitism is literally a form of gatekeeping…

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#269

Post by farhanhubble »

withinboredom wrote: post #139
farhanhubble wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly what happens at many software companies. People,sometimes under pressure to meet deadlines, apply totally crazy fixes to stop one problem and create new problems.

I’ve seen it both ways. In one case dev spends 3 days refactoring code beautifully to fix the bug; ships to production only to find out that it wasn’t the only bug in this code path. Now they spend another 2 days refactoring before repeating the process and so on. Meanwhile, the company is losing money/customers/favorite vanity metric/whatever. Or. Dev hacks a fix up, sends to prod. Sees another bug and fixes immedia…

Definitely. Like so many other things it's the spirit and intent that matter.

Re: Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened (2001) [pdf]

#270

Post by mirekrusin »

hakunin wrote: post #27

I've been contemplating the issue in the headline, as pertains to my value. When I help somebody in 40 mins with something they've been stuck on for 3 months, my value is clear to everyone. When I work there the whole time, and nobody ever gets stuck for 3 months, my value is unclear. Don't know how to deal with this paradox.

Time.

Your value will emerge with time.

Just keep calm and carry on.

Good and bad times will do their usual sinusoidal dance but your slope will be pointing up if you zoom out.

There will be unfair promotions outside of your team, reductions or freezes in yours (companies have tendency to throw people at problems = inflate dysfunctional parts; if you have well performing team - they won’t let you grow short term; just wait it out, they will eventually).

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