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I just don’t want to be busy anymore

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Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#401

Post by yamakadi »

ImaCake wrote: post #315
5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally agree. Don't be "pro-active" be "re-active" - is my way of putting it. Frankly, most orgs will not reward pro-activity, in fact you can even be punished for it, since if a problem is not yet known by stakeholders then why are you solving it. There have been times in my career where I spotted issues from other teams on preview or staging servers and helped to fix it. Then I later got blamed (or dragged into…

I like the sentiment of this comment, but I think it is a little too black and white. I am in science, so your mileage may vary. I have found a little bit of pro-activity on things you like to do anyway is a good way to turn your job into the job you actually want to do rather than the one you got hired for. I started my current job doing wetlab biology, but I currently do coding and grant writing. I like wetlab, but…

> “It helps to have a friendly and permissive boss.”

I think this is the most impactful factor in achieving pro-activity at a level you are comfortable with. The company might not reward you directly, but being able to change your own job description, find ways you can contribute better, etc. are all more motivating than financial incentives.

It’s easy to get burned out doing too much without a boss that’ll recognize your efforts and encourage you to do less from time to time though. A little bit of love and care, however superficial, goes a long way here.

I agree with doing the bare minimum at an expected quality if you are working in an inflexible system, but getting too comfortable there might leave you doing that until retirement.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#402

Post by rightbyte »

caminante wrote: post #373
rightbyte wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ye. You need to own "the means of production", which in eg. New York or SV is the house you live in, since the house is the reason you can work close to the easy money. A friend is thinking about to open a restaurant in a very attractive location, but I said, if you don't own the property the restaurant is in, the land lord will just increase rent until the any profit is barely OK anyways. There is no money in that.

> if you don't own the property the restaurant is in, the land lord will just increase rent until the any profit is barely OK anyways. Then, contract around it with a capped escalation factor? And doesn't this apply to any renting space?

No, I don't think it applies to all businesses. Like, restaurants are tied to a location and reputation. An office not so much. Bigger corporations like McDonalds or Starbucks probably have more bargain power and a better picture of how much a location will pay out, etc.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#403

Post by solarmist »

bumby wrote: post #380
snowwrestler wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t need studies, I have a number of friends and family who are doctors and nurses. You completely missed my point, which is that it is ridiculous for tech companies to compare themselves to a profession that faces literally life and death situations. Comparing to “the past year” (i.e. a historic global pandemic) just highlights the absurdity. Your OKRs are not COVID patients!

> tech companies to compare themselves to a profession that faces literally life and death situations I think you have a narrowly defined scope of “tech”. What about the software that controls the Da Vinci robot in the operating room? Do you want someone to say “eh, code quality checks aren’t my job?” Or the person writing flight software for aircraft? Or the safety critical software for a power plant? The point bein…

The point being you aren't changing the code of a robot while it's being used.

There’s a time delay that separates these things. That completely changes your approach.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#404

Post by jjulius »

WealthVsSurvive wrote: post #355
jjulius wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You're probably not going to get rich from working a day job. You're replaceable, and if you left your job tomorrow then you'll soon be forgotten. This is true for the majority of software engineers. I'd honestly be replace "software engineers" with "all jobs"; your post is highly relevant to most fields.

Are the owners not also, extremely replaceable, moreso than the engineers? I think so.

Of course, hence my use of the word, "all". :)

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#405

Post by mooreds »

vishnugupta wrote: post #256
mooreds wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you get RSUs if the company hasn't IPOed? I thought that RSUs were limited to public companies (since they are essentially grants of stock, not options).

Companies typically switch to RSUs from option as they get closer to the IPO. Conversely if a company is offering RSUs then it’s a strong signal that they will go public within 18-24 months and also that the options have appreciated as much as they could as evaluated by private investors and so subsequent stock appreciation could only happen by public investors. Exceptions exist but it’s a good heuristic.

Awesome, thanks! TIL.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#406

Post by iainctduncan »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #109

One thing that helped me is not to care so much about my employer's goals. It's almost heretical. But once you embrace this mindset, it does wonders. Or at least, it has for me so far. I think a lot of us want to be proud of the work we do, and we feel that if we slack off, then we shouldn't be proud. But it's the other way around. I think the slackers have it right. You're probably not going to get rich from working…

1000 times this. The investors who own your company care about your well being as much as it affects the attrition stats in a way that matters to the bottom line. I say this as someone who's job is literally to talk to these people about their priorities before they buy a software company.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#407

Post by SubuSS »

geodel wrote: post #396
SubuSS wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, again from personal experience and what I have seen, going the extra mile exactly like you said (not to) is what enabled many to grow both professionally and financially. For many, that’s exactly what put them on the faster track to all that’s good. I know only a lucky few who got there by being there at the right time and coasting out. Most had to work it. I can really feel how it is easier to focus on those l…

Few months back an SVP type came for internal talk about journey and growth that led to their present position. So their matra was: looking for opportunities, mentoring, having great mentors, learning, proactive problem solving blah..blah. Now this all seems reasonably true. Most important thing they missed to tell was joining industry/company at time of explosive growth in sector. If one is out with graduate degree…

I don’t know your exact situation - but I precisely started working full time in 2003. I have many peers who have grown to vp levels from that time.

Without more details, any points I make / advice I give will just sound like platitudes. But I do hope you turn it around. The job market is very hot right now fwiw if you want a fresh start.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#408

Post by bumby »

solarmist wrote: post #403
bumby wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> tech companies to compare themselves to a profession that faces literally life and death situations I think you have a narrowly defined scope of “tech”. What about the software that controls the Da Vinci robot in the operating room? Do you want someone to say “eh, code quality checks aren’t my job?” Or the person writing flight software for aircraft? Or the safety critical software for a power plant? The point bein…

The point being you aren't changing the code of a robot while it's being used. There’s a time delay that separates these things. That completely changes your approach.

Fair enough on the Da Vinci robot because it's a turn-key product. But I can tell you that people change production code on the fly in safety-critical applications (particularly in the industrial controls space) much more often than many people would be comfortable with.

A better healthcare example may have been, would you be comfortable with people changing the building automation software that controls operating room air exchange rates or oxygen delivery systems?

But again, this isn’t really about software devs so it should extend beyond just SWE roles. It’s about positional duties, regardless if you write code or deliver meds to patients.

All of these systems run into schedule and cost pressures that often causes people to feel overburdened. I don't actually think they are fundamentally different.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#409

Post by zerr »

pivo wrote: post #351
5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally agree. Don't be "pro-active" be "re-active" - is my way of putting it. Frankly, most orgs will not reward pro-activity, in fact you can even be punished for it, since if a problem is not yet known by stakeholders then why are you solving it. There have been times in my career where I spotted issues from other teams on preview or staging servers and helped to fix it. Then I later got blamed (or dragged into…

> Don't be "pro-active" be "re-active" I moved from development to management a few years ago and as a manager I have to say my proactive developers are far more valuable to me. I recognise their value and I give them more interesting work and more financial rewards as a result. I also do everything I can to be sure that they're happy and not overworked because I'd hate to lose any of them.

Unless you work with interns or very junior devs [1], manager deciding whom to give what, also favoring some subset group, giving them interesting tasks and financial rewards, while keeping "boring" stuff for the rest of the team lights up quite a few red flags to be honest. You might want to reconsider what management means.

[1] - favoritism is not acceptable in this case as well.

Re: I just don’t want to be busy anymore

#410

Post by snarf21 »

sudoit wrote: post #377
snarf21 wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well said. It is frustrating with the "everything is an emergency" mindset at some companies. I far along in my career that I just let it slide off but others aren't. We had a potential customer that was definitely going to sign a contract on Monday so another engineer spent all weekend getting a new rack mount computer all set up. That was four weeks ago and no one has heard anything from them. The bosses think they…

Bingo. 90% of the things I broke my back over because “it was an emergency” got scraped or abandoned a week later. And my ex-employer was wondering why our team turnover was through the roof.

I had an old boss that I developed a rule of 3 for. He like to change priorities constantly because that was "agile". So I just knew that until he asked for something the 3rd time, I would say "yes" and let it die on the vine. If he did ask 3 times, then it was probably going to actually stay a priority.
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