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You shouldn't worry about software being late. Work at a good clip with the time you have. This is just the norm for this industry and the only managers who pre

You shouldn't worry about software being late. Work at a good clip with the time you have. This is just the norm for this industry and the only managers who presume otherwise are themselves novices.

jaggederest 10y ago
Or are cynically using it to crack the whip and aggrandize power with zero regard for whether the deadlines are meaningful.
- Ntrails 10y ago
  "Noted Good Developer A thinks it will take at least 3 weeks for you to complete this feature request, but we're being pushed to get it out in 2. I think you could manage that, but what about you? Can you do it or not?"
YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago
Unfortunately, one needs to get a bit of experience (and risk early burnout) before they cotton on to that fact. My first real junior dev job [1] gave me an ulcer. I only relaxed when I realised what you allude to: people yelled at me and complained about my working pace (and the fact I didn't... smile) but there wasn't anyone else willing to do the job I was paid a pittance to do, especially not with that money. I could just take my time and do my best in the time I thought was appropriate and let middle management go screw themselves. Poor bastards anyway- they were the de facto product testers so they probably had it worse than me in the end. [1] In other words, working for a company that didn't give a shit about me and just used me in a "human-wave" sort of approach to development. This also came after a stint at a company that treated me fairly and gave me a full "software engineer" title, no "junior"s, so I had the chance to observe the difference between the two models very closely.
hiram112 10y ago
Yes. I've been getting thrown into the team lead position quite a bit as I've gotten older. I get tasked with delivering arbitrary deadlines for impossible features and timelines to my team and managing the outcomes. There really are no other reasons for some of these deadlines other than higher mgmt. competing against each other. There are no business reasons. Long ago I just started ignoring them and giving my team deadlines that were both reasonable and obtainable. I don't want anybody stressed on a daily basis. If mgmt thinks they can do better, go for it.

You shouldn't worry about software being late. Work at a good clip with the time you have. This is just the norm for this industry and the only managers who presume otherwise are themselves novices.

jaggederest 10y ago

Or are cynically using it to crack the whip and aggrandize power with zero regard for whether the deadlines are meaningful.

Ntrails 10y ago
"Noted Good Developer A thinks it will take at least 3 weeks for you to complete this feature request, but we're being pushed to get it out in 2. I think you could manage that, but what about you? Can you do it or not?"

YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago

Unfortunately, one needs to get a bit of experience (and risk early burnout) before they cotton on to that fact. My first real junior dev job [1] gave me an ulcer. I only relaxed when I realised what you allude to: people yelled at me and complained about my working pace (and the fact I didn't... smile) but there wasn't anyone else willing to do the job I was paid a pittance to do, especially not with that money. I could just take my time and do my best in the time I thought was appropriate and let middle management go screw themselves. Poor bastards anyway- they were the de facto product testers so they probably had it worse than me in the end. [1] In other words, working for a company that didn't give a shit about me and just used me in a "human-wave" sort of approach to development. This also came after a stint at a company that treated me fairly and gave me a full "software engineer" title, no "junior"s, so I had the chance to observe the difference between the two models very closely.

hiram112 10y ago

Yes. I've been getting thrown into the team lead position quite a bit as I've gotten older. I get tasked with delivering arbitrary deadlines for impossible features and timelines to my team and managing the outcomes. There really are no other reasons for some of these deadlines other than higher mgmt. competing against each other. There are no business reasons. Long ago I just started ignoring them and giving my team deadlines that were both reasonable and obtainable. I don't want anybody stressed on a daily basis. If mgmt thinks they can do better, go for it.