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Boring work needs tension

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Re: Boring work needs tension

#71

Post by robertlagrant »

wavemode wrote: post #26
dakiol wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then if you cannot work on a ticket because of prio, you cannot either work without a ticket, isn't it? I thought the point here was doing work with or without a ticket.

Without a ticket, the only people who see that you're working on that thing are the engineers reviewing your code. At many companies, this creates a lot less friction. To put it a different way: it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Creating a ticket is like asking permission (as the project managers will see the ticket and start asking questions about why time is being spent on low-priority things). Just g…

> If you've never worked at a company where these political games are necessary - count your lucky stars!

I've worked at several places that use Jira, and none of this stuff ever happened. I've helped make sure that's the case, of course, but I don't think I've had anyone I've worked with question an individual ticket's priority.

Re: Boring work needs tension

#72

Post by mat0 »

ramon156 wrote: post #7
datadrivenangel wrote: post #3

Unless you work on a dysfunctional team and any non-tracked work is forbidden, and any work you try and get tracked requires 6 pages of justification and takes 10 weeks to get prioritized enough for someone to work on...

My team isnt dysfunctional but I always get hit on the head for doing work and not making a ticket. I don't get it, if I see something bad I'm not going to search which ticket would best fit this issue. Just reviw my PR ! Also, so far most of our projects start simple but end in chaos and deadlines on the minute. I feel like we could always do better.

anyone reading this comment: don’t do this. this is not the way to work on a team.

i’ve seen so many random prs of engineers that thought this was the time to go on a rabbit whole and fix some random error they found. worse, i’ve seen regressions introduced on random “fix” PRs that had no description, no ticket, nothing. this is not team work. if you see an issue and you know how to fix it, by all means, fix it. but create a bug ticket with explicit current and expected behavior that people can read and test. if you don’t have time to create a ticket, then you don’t have time to fix random bugs

Re: Boring work needs tension

#73

Post by sisisbbs »

liquid_thyme wrote: post #60
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that "Boring work needs meaning, not tension" is a great explanation of bad bosses. Any work will go a little faster when your boss puts an arbitrary deadline on it and screams "We need this by Friday, we're gonna tell the VP that it's late and it's your fault!!" But it's hugely demoralizing and stressful. But if you say "this work will get the client's hospital equipment monitoring suite out sooner; if it wo…

>But if you say "this work will get the client's hospital equipment monitoring suite out sooner; if it works reliably, they'll be able to deploy it sooner, and it'll save the lives of some sick kids," then that'll also get the work done a little faster, and it'll make you feel good about doing it. The problem is that the smart ones will easily figure out that 'this next version will save lives' is a total lie. If you…

> IMO people who chase some higher purpose and meaning are destined to be forever unhappy at their job.

This is only because we’re ok with billionaires dictating what we have to do to earn money. We’ve absolutely got the technical mastery over our environment needed so that most people don’t need to work. The majority of jobs done today are performative. Have a kid and you’ll realize pretty quick that awful, boring work can still be 100% fulfilling.

Not to be personal but your attitude is disgustingly complacent. Nobody should be ok with being a waste of space so one human can have billions of dollars.

Re: Boring work needs tension

#74

Post by cestith »

treve wrote: post #29
truelson wrote: post #24

I disagree. Boring work needs meaning, not tension. Some times boring, done consistently, is where the truly great things come from. Tension is, imo, ephemeral. If you keep chasing it, you are chasing dopamine loops. Little good comes from this. But meaning is different. When you can remind yourself a truly great "why" you are doing something, can re-frame it, it can help. Most importantly, boredom, irritation, and a…

Different people are motivated differently. My work is meaningful but it's not enough to feel like I'm having fun every day. Some dopamine is basically critical for me to function. It's always a bit wild when people feel they can generalize their own experience and assume it must be the case for everyone else. This needs more I statements.

> This needs more I statements.

This is one statement that’s true of an overwhelming number of stories.

Re: Boring work needs tension

#75

Post by liquid_thyme »

Jare wrote: post #67
liquid_thyme wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But if you say "this work will get the client's hospital equipment monitoring suite out sooner; if it works reliably, they'll be able to deploy it sooner, and it'll save the lives of some sick kids," then that'll also get the work done a little faster, and it'll make you feel good about doing it. The problem is that the smart ones will easily figure out that 'this next version will save lives' is a total lie. If you…

> As they say, the best way to ruin something you love doing is by making it your job. As someone who made a job and career out of what I always loved, it's far from ruined. Your relationship with the thing changes, and like anything that changes, sometimes it will go well and sometimes it will go bad, often both in succession like a rollercoaster. > IMO people who chase some higher purpose and meaning are destined t…

First and foremost, good for you! Its a guess, but it seems you have a lot of control over your work, schedule, terms, etc than most people, or are in a very high position where you're in the drivers seat, creatively. We all would like greater agency, but that ain't the case for the overwhelming majority of working professionals.

Re: Boring work needs tension

#76

Post by liquid_thyme »

sisisbbs wrote: post #73
liquid_thyme wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But if you say "this work will get the client's hospital equipment monitoring suite out sooner; if it works reliably, they'll be able to deploy it sooner, and it'll save the lives of some sick kids," then that'll also get the work done a little faster, and it'll make you feel good about doing it. The problem is that the smart ones will easily figure out that 'this next version will save lives' is a total lie. If you…

> IMO people who chase some higher purpose and meaning are destined to be forever unhappy at their job. This is only because we’re ok with billionaires dictating what we have to do to earn money. We’ve absolutely got the technical mastery over our environment needed so that most people don’t need to work. The majority of jobs done today are performative. Have a kid and you’ll realize pretty quick that awful, boring w…

Not to be personal, but you sound quite naive. The world is ugly and runs on money/power/leverage/arm-twisting. The "nice" people who lay down their arms get invaded and conquered, and thats the end of that gene pool.

Side note: For Americans, the ability to stay blissfully unaware of all of this is due to the 76 US Navy Destroyers and 11 aircraft carriers that are ready and willing to enforce/maintain/defend the current way of life for the civilian population.

Re: Boring work needs tension

#77

Post by truelson »

jvanderbot wrote: post #55
truelson wrote: post #24

I disagree. Boring work needs meaning, not tension. Some times boring, done consistently, is where the truly great things come from. Tension is, imo, ephemeral. If you keep chasing it, you are chasing dopamine loops. Little good comes from this. But meaning is different. When you can remind yourself a truly great "why" you are doing something, can re-frame it, it can help. Most importantly, boredom, irritation, and a…

I disagree because I think boring work needs discipline. The expectation that everything should be exciting or fulfilling is also false. You can't expect meaning in everything, and your response of wading through discomfort is best. Or perhaps we should all be taoists, and find find joy in the taste of vinegar because it is pure life that we are tasting, by being alive and breathing and choosing to take on a task tha…

Loved this. Meditations/Taoism/omnissiah...

Just a great response. :)

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