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Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

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Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#61

Post by hyperpape »

soccernee wrote: post #27
supernova87a wrote: post #17

Sorry, the story totally lost me after she was describing the interaction with the FBI. I did not easily take away some conclusion about what she had done wrong or what deep pile of shit she had just created for herself, or what on 2 paths she had just chosen incorrectly, or daringly? (The paragraph ending, "I trusted the FBI to be good at their jobs." The next paragraph jumps right to generalizations, and I didn't c…

Same for me. I feel like the essay makes some good points about the type of people who gravitate towards middle management, but I'm unable to make the connections myself because the essay jumps around. I'm still confused -- is Matt Cutts the "idiot running my engineering org"?

I think this could and should be a lot clearer, but I doubt it.

When you're bad mouthing your former boss, you usually don't state their name. Even better if you can leave the circumstances ambiguous enough that few people can guess.

If you do name them, that's scorched earth. I'd expect a lot of clear anger directed towards Matt if he was the idiot.

So I read it as her having a good working relationship with him, he was just impressed how much certain scenarios always involved her.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#62

Post by azernik »

RustyRussell wrote: post #22

This hit home: I worked over a decade at IBM. > When you are in a work situation where you are respected and admired, that is often its own reward. If you don’t have that, the components of your job that give you a sense of value and satisfaction are all connected directly to the career ladder. What is your title? What is the prestige value of your projects? My current official job title is "Code Contributor". I was…

I like the traditional "Member of Technical Staff". Don't know if that's an IBM or Bell Labs coinage.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#64

Post by m0zg »

Speaking of USDS, how come in August of 2020 we _still_ don't have a government COVID19 website that doesn't suck? One that's trustworthy, that has accurate data, and decent statistical analysis.

Maybe you guys should look into doing your jobs instead of "fighting white supremacists" on taxpayer dime?

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#65

Post by pdonis »

ajhurliman wrote: post #31
supernova87a wrote: post #17

Sorry, the story totally lost me after she was describing the interaction with the FBI. I did not easily take away some conclusion about what she had done wrong or what deep pile of shit she had just created for herself, or what on 2 paths she had just chosen incorrectly, or daringly? (The paragraph ending, "I trusted the FBI to be good at their jobs." The next paragraph jumps right to generalizations, and I didn't c…

Here's a summary that combines the two sections: She has a manager who (apparently) has a low tolerance for risk. He probably got to where he is by spinning situations so that it's not his fault. He was upset that she contacted the FBI about a situation and took on more risk than he was comfortable with. She sees herself as someone who enjoys the trappings of a job well done and doesn't mind her slow progress of ladd…

> She has a manager who (apparently) has a low tolerance for risk. He probably got to where he is by spinning situations so that it's not his fault. He was upset that she contacted the FBI about a situation and took on more risk than he was comfortable with.

I get that this appears to be the conclusion the author wants you to draw. But what's missing, to me, is that she has provided no evidence whatever to support it. The only evidence we have about her boss is his reaction--and I can see a boss with a high tolerance for risk saying exactly what she describes her boss as saying, as a kind of whimsical recognition that the very thing that makes her a valuable employee is that she will take on these things that none of his other employees will take on. So on the only evidence she gives us about her boss, it could go either way.

What I expected to see (and apparently you did too), at some point later in the article, was some kind of follow-up to that specific story she told--some way in which either her boss did or didn't support her in some subsequent development related to what she had already told. And there wasn't one.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#66

Post by mesozoic »

Why do people still use the term white supremacists to imply some nefarious group? The term has lost all value and is now used in mainstream best selling books and media to describe every white person. It literally now has no meaning and whenever anyone uses it I just think they're hunting the boogey man.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#67

Post by keenmaster »

pdonis wrote: post #65
ajhurliman wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a summary that combines the two sections: She has a manager who (apparently) has a low tolerance for risk. He probably got to where he is by spinning situations so that it's not his fault. He was upset that she contacted the FBI about a situation and took on more risk than he was comfortable with. She sees herself as someone who enjoys the trappings of a job well done and doesn't mind her slow progress of ladd…

> She has a manager who (apparently) has a low tolerance for risk. He probably got to where he is by spinning situations so that it's not his fault. He was upset that she contacted the FBI about a situation and took on more risk than he was comfortable with. I get that this appears to be the conclusion the author wants you to draw. But what's missing, to me, is that she has provided no evidence whatever to support it…

She’s probably holding back for various reasons, despite the sensational title. You have to read between the lines.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#68

Post by NateEag »

motohagiography wrote: post #39

How do we identify, support, and promote people with her understanding?

Watch for the troublemakers.

The ones who violate the bureaucratic rules but don't get the bad outcome the rules are there to prevent.

Those are the people you're looking for.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#69

Post by JadeNB »

m0zg wrote: post #64

Speaking of USDS, how come in August of 2020 we _still_ don't have a government COVID19 website that doesn't suck? One that's trustworthy, that has accurate data, and decent statistical analysis. Maybe you guys should look into doing your jobs instead of "fighting white supremacists" on taxpayer dime?

> Maybe you guys should look into doing your jobs instead of "fighting white supremacists" on taxpayer dime?

Wait a moment, you can argue about whose purview exactly this is, but are you saying that fighting white supremacists isn't a good use of taxpayer dollars? It's certainly a cause to which I'd be happy to know my taxes were going.

Re: Why is this idiot running my engineering org?

#70

Post by NateEag »

m0zg wrote: post #64

Speaking of USDS, how come in August of 2020 we _still_ don't have a government COVID19 website that doesn't suck? One that's trustworthy, that has accurate data, and decent statistical analysis. Maybe you guys should look into doing your jobs instead of "fighting white supremacists" on taxpayer dime?

Even if the title is misapplied and overused, there are actual white supremacists in the US and they do occasionally kill people.

I see no reason in the article to doubt her choice of labels.

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