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There is a trend I noticed where I work. Most people that “get it right” the first time around do not get any recognition whatsoever. It is the people that sc

There is a trend I noticed where I work. Most people that “get it right” the first time around do not get any recognition whatsoever. It is the people that screw up, release with big flaws that the customer then pressures the company about, that are heralded as heroes and bacon savers when the fix those flaws. After 3 years and as many releases.

tejasmanohar 9y ago
>Most people that “get it right” the first time around do not get any recognition whatsoever. I've heard similar complaints before. And, I get it, too-- at a glance, that person is playing the "superhero" by saving the project. But, good management will insist on root causing failures where this will unravel. If it's a recurring problem, you should bring it up with management.
- luckydata 9y ago
  My biggest gripe as a "lateral manager" (I don't manage engineers, I manage products) is that I see those things happen all the time, and I spend time coaching developers to interact effectively with their managers as much as I can. It's frustrating when I see people that should know better (because I know they heard me) not taking notes about serious issues they want to discuss with their superiors, not knowing how to escalate issues that threaten the well being of the product or the team but that their direct superior doesn't believe are urgent etc... Developers complain about management but tend to forget that managers are people just like everyone else, and we need to apply some skill to our interactions if we are to get the results we desire.
  - mycelium 9y ago
    This completely squares with my experiences as well — a lot of instances of complaints about management are hollow because developers aren't managing upward correctly. Their followup on their issues is missing, or non-actionable. Do you have any resources you've found helpful improving your skill at this?
- crdoconnor 9y ago
  >But, good management will insist on root causing failures where this will unravel. You can have management that understand tech who will get to the bottom of the problem and you can have management who don't understand tech. They won't. Management who don't understand tech will either keep somebody on hand who they know and trust who does understand tech (e.g. a consultant) or, more likely, they'll just keep rewarding the faux superheroes who keep screwing up and bailing themselves out.
  - tejasmanohar 9y ago
    I'd say that good management needs to understand how their subordinates think and operate, even if they haven't played their exact role (e.g. engineer). The best managers that I've worked with, both lateral (e.g. PM) and direct (e.g. EM), take the time to get familiar with engineering processes if they don't know about them already and speak their language.
sorokod 9y ago
The "squeaky wheel gets the grease" syndrome.
crdoconnor 9y ago
>It is the people that screw up, release with big flaws that the customer then pressures the company about, that are heralded as heroes and bacon savers when the fix those flaws. After 3 years and as many releases. There's going to be a ton of survivorship bias even with them. It just goes to show that big marketing budgets are such a competitive advantage that can outweigh not actually being any good. I'd seriously like somebody with a passing knowledge of data integrity who believes the tech industry is meritocratic to explain what they think the success of mongo is all about.
chx 9y ago
Reminds me of this old blog post: http://webchick.net/embrace-the-chaos http://webchick.net/embrace-the-chaos
justaguyhere 9y ago
That is true in life in general, not just work place. Nobody cares about people who are healthy all their life. But someone who suddenly realizes they need to eat better and exercise, and they do, they are applauded. They are defended too, if they go back to old ways. And so on...

tejasmanohar 9y ago

>Most people that “get it right” the first time around do not get any recognition whatsoever. I've heard similar complaints before. And, I get it, too-- at a glance, that person is playing the "superhero" by saving the project. But, good management will insist on root causing failures where this will unravel. If it's a recurring problem, you should bring it up with management.

luckydata 9y ago
My biggest gripe as a "lateral manager" (I don't manage engineers, I manage products) is that I see those things happen all the time, and I spend time coaching developers to interact effectively with their managers as much as I can. It's frustrating when I see people that should know better (because I know they heard me) not taking notes about serious issues they want to discuss with their superiors, not knowing how to escalate issues that threaten the well being of the product or the team but that their direct superior doesn't believe are urgent etc... Developers complain about management but tend to forget that managers are people just like everyone else, and we need to apply some skill to our interactions if we are to get the results we desire.
- mycelium 9y ago
  This completely squares with my experiences as well — a lot of instances of complaints about management are hollow because developers aren't managing upward correctly. Their followup on their issues is missing, or non-actionable. Do you have any resources you've found helpful improving your skill at this?
crdoconnor 9y ago
>But, good management will insist on root causing failures where this will unravel. You can have management that understand tech who will get to the bottom of the problem and you can have management who don't understand tech. They won't. Management who don't understand tech will either keep somebody on hand who they know and trust who does understand tech (e.g. a consultant) or, more likely, they'll just keep rewarding the faux superheroes who keep screwing up and bailing themselves out.
- tejasmanohar 9y ago
  I'd say that good management needs to understand how their subordinates think and operate, even if they haven't played their exact role (e.g. engineer). The best managers that I've worked with, both lateral (e.g. PM) and direct (e.g. EM), take the time to get familiar with engineering processes if they don't know about them already and speak their language.

sorokod 9y ago

The "squeaky wheel gets the grease" syndrome.

crdoconnor 9y ago

>It is the people that screw up, release with big flaws that the customer then pressures the company about, that are heralded as heroes and bacon savers when the fix those flaws. After 3 years and as many releases. There's going to be a ton of survivorship bias even with them. It just goes to show that big marketing budgets are such a competitive advantage that can outweigh not actually being any good. I'd seriously like somebody with a passing knowledge of data integrity who believes the tech industry is meritocratic to explain what they think the success of mongo is all about.

chx 9y ago

Reminds me of this old blog post: http://webchick.net/embrace-the-chaos http://webchick.net/embrace-the-chaos

justaguyhere 9y ago

That is true in life in general, not just work place. Nobody cares about people who are healthy all their life. But someone who suddenly realizes they need to eat better and exercise, and they do, they are applauded. They are defended too, if they go back to old ways. And so on...