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"In the cases where a company chose to prioritize speed of delivery, it was typically after an overwhelming number of engineers (not just me) had conducted rese
by ktRolster 11y ago
"In the cases where a company chose to prioritize speed of delivery, it was typically after an overwhelming number of engineers (not just me) had conducted research on the system, the business needs, and so forth, and presented quite a lot of evidence that the fast approach would actually cost the business more money than the more careful approach, even in the short term."
You were probably right, but it doesn't matter, it's not your decision.
- p4wnc6 11y agoIf the managers or executives you work for often make choices that contradict the evidence, it does matter. Their unwillingness to follow the evidence could have a negative impact upon you as the employee. It drives many employees to switch careers and find managers or executives more willing to follow evidence-based decision-making. It is the job of an engineer to present the various trade-offs inherent in different options for solving a business problem, including the way those trade-offs affect the business bottom line. If an employer asks an engineer merely to execute a given decision, and never use critical thinking skill to evaluate the appropriateness of the decision (which is precisely what they are hired as an engineer to do) then it does represent a red flag about that manager, and is usually a strong signal that it would be unhealthy to remain working in that capacity. In the few times when I have managed others on projects, I've always encouraged them to question my decision making and to reach agreements about our mutual efforts based on evidence, never on authority. I admit it's only a limited set of projects that I oversaw this way, but it always produced good results and the people working with me said they felt it was a positive way to be managed.