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> Often, the techy person would avoid explaining on what he’s about to do and would go straightforward to promising a delivery date, avoiding any kind of knowle

> Often, the techy person would avoid explaining on what he’s about to do and would go straightforward to promising a delivery date, avoiding any kind of knowledge sharing whatsoever. A very bad way to go. I dunno, most of the time they don’t want to know how I’m going to do it just if I can and when it will be completed by. I’ve written up action plans, flow charts, lengthy posts. Most go unread apart from myself. So I use this just for myself, if the client wants to look at them they can but by default these days such thins are written for me and the other techies to read not the client. I had a “explain by default” setting for a while, turns out most didn’t want it explained and I was just wasting both their time and mine. Most of the time they would humour me and let me ramble on (which I do), some would let me know to stfu and just get it done. If they want a deep down explanation I’ll always be willing to give it, it’s just I don’t force it down anyone’s neck by default. Now for answering “how did you fix it” with “MAGIC!!!” I agree but you should answer with one or two sentences about what was broken and how you fixed it and allow them / invite them to follow up if they would like a more detailed explanation.

throwaway2016a 8y ago
Exactly. If they ask for an explanation give a high level and offer to dig deeper if they want. Most people just wanted the high level. I've never been asked to explain anything to my grandmother except during interviews. Occasionally I will get asked to explain Bitcoin because people know I understand the blockchain and are curious. Closest I've come is being asked by a client to detail the architecture for cost reasons. And/or because they are trying to write a job description to get the right person/people to maintain it after I hand it off to them. On rare occasion I'll get the person who thinks, "That looks easy I could have done it myself!" In those scenarios it is one of two things... 1. They don't understand the complexity or 2. They actually could have done it themselves. Maybe even with an easier to maintain tool like Excel In the first case don't dismiss them. Be polite and explain it to them. In the second case, don't let your ego get in the way and don't always assume you need a big complicated tool to solve an issue.
- Crosseye_Jack 8y ago
  > In the first case don't dismiss them. Be polite and explain it to them. The explaining part is fine. My problem is I love tech. “Extremely passionate” is the polite way my friends call it. So if you give me a chance to talk your ear off about tech, I’ll take it :-D But when dealing with someone who misunderstood the complexity finding that balance of being perceived as being passionate (something I don’t mind being perceived as, I am a geek :-p) and being a “know it all” I find to be tricky at time (I don’t want to be the “know it all”, I don’t know it all and in my experience those people come across as being a dick, something I don’t want to be.) > In the second case, don't let your ego get in the way and don't always assume you need a big complicated tool to solve an issue. I try to live by that, some times slip up and fail. But I have this in my office to try and remind me to keep too such a mindset https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png

throwaway2016a 8y ago

Exactly. If they ask for an explanation give a high level and offer to dig deeper if they want. Most people just wanted the high level. I've never been asked to explain anything to my grandmother except during interviews. Occasionally I will get asked to explain Bitcoin because people know I understand the blockchain and are curious. Closest I've come is being asked by a client to detail the architecture for cost reasons. And/or because they are trying to write a job description to get the right person/people to maintain it after I hand it off to them. On rare occasion I'll get the person who thinks, "That looks easy I could have done it myself!" In those scenarios it is one of two things... 1. They don't understand the complexity or 2. They actually could have done it themselves. Maybe even with an easier to maintain tool like Excel In the first case don't dismiss them. Be polite and explain it to them. In the second case, don't let your ego get in the way and don't always assume you need a big complicated tool to solve an issue.

Crosseye_Jack 8y ago
> In the first case don't dismiss them. Be polite and explain it to them. The explaining part is fine. My problem is I love tech. “Extremely passionate” is the polite way my friends call it. So if you give me a chance to talk your ear off about tech, I’ll take it :-D But when dealing with someone who misunderstood the complexity finding that balance of being perceived as being passionate (something I don’t mind being perceived as, I am a geek :-p) and being a “know it all” I find to be tricky at time (I don’t want to be the “know it all”, I don’t know it all and in my experience those people come across as being a dick, something I don’t want to be.) > In the second case, don't let your ego get in the way and don't always assume you need a big complicated tool to solve an issue. I try to live by that, some times slip up and fail. But I have this in my office to try and remind me to keep too such a mindset https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/file_transfer.png