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Thanks for the story. There were some very good lessons in it. > every time I managed to fix something[1] I proved him right in a way deepening the misery and

Thanks for the story. There were some very good lessons in it. > every time I managed to fix something[1] I proved him right in a way deepening the misery and the complexity of the next challenge I have a similar situation with the startup that I work for now. I've done some decent work, even though I don't nearly have the toolset (or background experience, tbh) that would usually be required or available. This has been interpreted as "you've validated working with what we've got" as opposed to "you can do impressive work, in spite of what we've got." Now I'm asked to do the usual improvements (better performance, more features, and lower cost), and expected to figure a way out with this "validated" workflow. I guess this is just a wordy way of asking if you have any advice on that matter. It would be appreciated.

jacquesm 16y ago
Is this a company wide phenomenon or does it just apply to you?
- patrickyeon 16y ago
  Company-wide, with some occasional exceptions (but 'company-wide' refers to a dev team of four people). It is a boot-strapped startup so there isn't money to throw around either. (edit: the more I think about it, the more I want to claim that it happens to me a little more, because I end up taking on the challenges and producing results, without the support I think I should have)
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    A couple of pointers: read 'the soul of a new machine' by Tracy Kidder, if you find yourself agreeing with the fact that you are 'signing up' then the problem may be on your end. But the fact that you think that it is company wide suggests the issue may be with your management. In that case I would confront them with this. Maybe suggest that that is not a long term workable solution and if they refuse to change tack start looking for other options or put down your foot once to see how they respond to that. good luck, that's a tough situation to be in. Don't fall like I did for the 'I've already invested so much in to this, one more thing I can do' trick, that carrot can be moved ahead of you for ever.
    - patrickyeon 16y ago
      Thank you, again. I like to think I'm pretty good at ignoring sunk costs (the "I've already invested, I'd better keep on trying here" mentality), I think a bigger trap is that I'm an EE, and there is not much opportunity to be involved in research/design unless you have an even more advanced degree or a fair bit of work experience.
      - jacquesm 16y ago
        drop me an email if you feel like, address in the profile

jacquesm 16y ago

Is this a company wide phenomenon or does it just apply to you?

patrickyeon 16y ago
Company-wide, with some occasional exceptions (but 'company-wide' refers to a dev team of four people). It is a boot-strapped startup so there isn't money to throw around either. (edit: the more I think about it, the more I want to claim that it happens to me a little more, because I end up taking on the challenges and producing results, without the support I think I should have)
- jacquesm 16y ago
  A couple of pointers: read 'the soul of a new machine' by Tracy Kidder, if you find yourself agreeing with the fact that you are 'signing up' then the problem may be on your end. But the fact that you think that it is company wide suggests the issue may be with your management. In that case I would confront them with this. Maybe suggest that that is not a long term workable solution and if they refuse to change tack start looking for other options or put down your foot once to see how they respond to that. good luck, that's a tough situation to be in. Don't fall like I did for the 'I've already invested so much in to this, one more thing I can do' trick, that carrot can be moved ahead of you for ever.
  - patrickyeon 16y ago
    Thank you, again. I like to think I'm pretty good at ignoring sunk costs (the "I've already invested, I'd better keep on trying here" mentality), I think a bigger trap is that I'm an EE, and there is not much opportunity to be involved in research/design unless you have an even more advanced degree or a fair bit of work experience.
    - jacquesm 16y ago
      drop me an email if you feel like, address in the profile