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None of that changes the fact that Rick became an awful co-worker and needed to be removed, whether temporarily or more permanently. Sorry, berating your co-wor

None of that changes the fact that Rick became an awful co-worker and needed to be removed, whether temporarily or more permanently. Sorry, berating your co-workers repeatedly is a terminable offense in many places. To go back to my analogy: Frankenstein’s monster still killed a bunch of people at the end of the day, even if it was Frankenstein’s fault that the monster existed at all. We can blame Frankenstein while still agreeing that his monster should’ve faced consequences for its actions.

dx034 9y ago
Giving someone more tasks than anyone could handle and then firing that person because they don't achieve it is only management's failure. He didn't need to be "removed", he only needed to be managed properly.
- cupscale 9y ago
  Did you read the original article? That wasn’t the crux of why they fired him.
  - volkk 9y ago
    You're missing the point. The way it all happened was essentially "yeah so we beat the guy with a baseball bat and he had the nerve to swing back at us while we did so"
    - cupscale 9y ago
      Eh, no it’s not like that at all. Again this is more like a dog that’s been abused over the years and then mauls a kid. No ones surprised that the dog is aggressive, and the owners are obviously guilty of abusing an animal - a horrible thing for the owners to have done. That doesn’t change that the dog’s aggressive now, though, and should be put down.
      - Mithaldu 9y ago
        The sheer depth of badness this comparison reaches is extremely impressive. Developers are human. They don't need to be put down.
        cupscale 9y ago
        No, but sometimes they need to be fired because the work situation is unrecoverable. Regardless of who’s fault it is. “Put down” here is an analogy for being fired. I don’t actually think Rick should be put down. I’d hoped that was obvious.
        b_t_s 9y ago
        "fired" is a very negative word, but the point is there needs to be a break between company and employee. As someone who was fired for cause in a situation like this, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. The ship was on fire and sinking fast, and I was totally burned out, bailing as fast as I could. Requested my vacation time once we shipped(nearly on schedule) & got fired instead. Felt awful at the time and I was totally bitter, but looking back it was a godsend. 5 weeks later I had a new job, a vacation, and a huge raise. Now I can't imagine why I spent so long there doing miserable work with old dead end tech, crazy overtime, and all for a pittance. Yea it would have been nice to leave on my terms but the important thing was leaving, regardless of fault or method
        jenscow 9y ago
        Same story here. Although, I was halfway through my journey home when I felt a huge weight had been taken off my back. Sometimes getting fired is good.
        Mithaldu 9y ago
        I know you did mean firing, but even that wasn't necessary. In germany we actually force companies to at least try and work things out. In order to fire someone you need 3 documented instances of misbehavior followed up improvement attampts, or an actual breach of law. This gives everyone time to sit down, gain distance, sleep over it and calm down and try again. Plus, if the feeling of not getting along remains after that, after some calming down it's often easier to work out a mutually acceptable separation. In a similar situation over here, Rick would've gotten a fairer treatment even on separation, other than "fuck you, bye".

dx034 9y ago

Giving someone more tasks than anyone could handle and then firing that person because they don't achieve it is only management's failure. He didn't need to be "removed", he only needed to be managed properly.

cupscale 9y ago
Did you read the original article? That wasn’t the crux of why they fired him.
- volkk 9y ago
  You're missing the point. The way it all happened was essentially "yeah so we beat the guy with a baseball bat and he had the nerve to swing back at us while we did so"
  - cupscale 9y ago
    Eh, no it’s not like that at all. Again this is more like a dog that’s been abused over the years and then mauls a kid. No ones surprised that the dog is aggressive, and the owners are obviously guilty of abusing an animal - a horrible thing for the owners to have done. That doesn’t change that the dog’s aggressive now, though, and should be put down.
    - Mithaldu 9y ago
      The sheer depth of badness this comparison reaches is extremely impressive. Developers are human. They don't need to be put down.
      - cupscale 9y ago
        No, but sometimes they need to be fired because the work situation is unrecoverable. Regardless of who’s fault it is. “Put down” here is an analogy for being fired. I don’t actually think Rick should be put down. I’d hoped that was obvious.
        b_t_s 9y ago
        "fired" is a very negative word, but the point is there needs to be a break between company and employee. As someone who was fired for cause in a situation like this, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. The ship was on fire and sinking fast, and I was totally burned out, bailing as fast as I could. Requested my vacation time once we shipped(nearly on schedule) & got fired instead. Felt awful at the time and I was totally bitter, but looking back it was a godsend. 5 weeks later I had a new job, a vacation, and a huge raise. Now I can't imagine why I spent so long there doing miserable work with old dead end tech, crazy overtime, and all for a pittance. Yea it would have been nice to leave on my terms but the important thing was leaving, regardless of fault or method
        jenscow 9y ago
        Same story here. Although, I was halfway through my journey home when I felt a huge weight had been taken off my back. Sometimes getting fired is good.
        Mithaldu 9y ago
        I know you did mean firing, but even that wasn't necessary. In germany we actually force companies to at least try and work things out. In order to fire someone you need 3 documented instances of misbehavior followed up improvement attampts, or an actual breach of law. This gives everyone time to sit down, gain distance, sleep over it and calm down and try again. Plus, if the feeling of not getting along remains after that, after some calming down it's often easier to work out a mutually acceptable separation. In a similar situation over here, Rick would've gotten a fairer treatment even on separation, other than "fuck you, bye".