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When people say "get hit by the bus" in this context, it means "decide you don't wanna work here anymore and leave".
by scscsc 16y ago
When people say "get hit by the bus" in this context, it means "decide you don't wanna work here anymore and leave".
- jamii 16y agoI'm aware of that. My point was that rather than just look at the potential problems it should be viewed as a tradeoff. Hiring a larger group of people is less risky but will cost you more.
- roc 16y agoThing is, "hit by a bus" is a larger range of situations than the cliche suggests. It's not just "hit by a bus", "wins the lottery", or "decides to quit". It could be: "takes a vacation". "Gets snowed in" (generic weather disaster that cuts travel and communication). It could even be "sick". The bet looks a lot worse when you realize it's just saying "this one guy won't so much as catch the flu". And hiring isn't the only corrective action. Making time for documentation, automation, cross-training -- these are all significantly cheaper and still tip the bet well back into your favor.
- jamii 16y ago> Making time for documentation, automation, cross-training ... Inside an existing company I would totally agree with you. I'm not in any way advocating for the job-security hoarder of information. Being a freelancer, when I've been presented with this question it always seems like they really mean "but we could hire 5 coders from massive outsourcing company X for the same price". It is frustrating to try and convey the idea that, even when various metaphorical bus accidents are taken into account, the large well known company is not necessarily the safest option. No amount of documentation or automation will assure someone who really just wants to be able to say "I chose IBM, it's not my fault it went wrong".
- torial 16y agoI don't know -- two of the jobs I had were right next to a bus depot. It was actually a risk :-D