4 ms·

Or they work in a sane company that values individuals taking initiative? Okay, maybe not a sane company, given the story, but there are plenty of places witho

by lkbm 8y ago

Or they work in a sane company that values individuals taking initiative? Okay, maybe not a sane company, given the story, but there are plenty of places without the toxic culture you describe above.

commandlinefan 8y ago
You mean a company whose management can tell the difference between working on something complex and not working at all? Sadly, very few exist, and those end up being bought by the evil kind.
- burkaman 8y ago
  You really need to find a new job. I don't know anyone who works for a company like you describe. Just ask questions like "How long have you worked here?" and "How do you handle tasks that run over their time estimates?" during interviews.
  - twojerbs 8y ago
    I have two full-time jobs like he described
    - burkaman 8y ago
      Why?
      - twojerbs 8y ago
        $$
        burkaman 8y ago
        No, why this type of job? Why not quit one of your jobs for a couple weeks and spend that time looking for better ones? Everyone is hiring.
        twojerbs 8y ago
        Because I guess I have more drive to maximize my income than I do integrity. I'm able to do these two simultaneously for the most part.
  - bartread 8y ago
    I did 8 months contracting for $large_uk_enterprise and it was exactly like that. I tolerated it for so long because the money was good and I thought I might be able to learn some useful lessons. I got told off more than once for showing initiative and pushing something forward that wasn't on the approved list for the sprint even though I had time and there wasn't anything left to pick up. Yes, mobbing fans, I know, I could have jumped in on a story that already had people working on it. This is what management there said to me as well. Nevertheless I'm rather old fashioned so I have two comments to make: 1) Too many cooks... etc. 2) Adding more people to a project/story that's not going to deliver on time will only make it later. (Here I'm obviously paraphrasing Fred Brooks.) And if it's going to deliver on time then why add more people instead of enabling those people to work on something else that's useful? In the end I gave notice without any plan about what to do next but had three opportunities lined up before I'd worked my notice period and have been much happier since.

by lkbm 8y ago

Or they work in a sane company that values individuals taking initiative? Okay, maybe not a sane company, given the story, but there are plenty of places without the toxic culture you describe above.

commandlinefan 8y ago

You mean a company whose management can tell the difference between working on something complex and not working at all? Sadly, very few exist, and those end up being bought by the evil kind.

burkaman 8y ago
You really need to find a new job. I don't know anyone who works for a company like you describe. Just ask questions like "How long have you worked here?" and "How do you handle tasks that run over their time estimates?" during interviews.
- twojerbs 8y ago
  I have two full-time jobs like he described
  - burkaman 8y ago
    Why?
    - twojerbs 8y ago
      $$
      - burkaman 8y ago
        No, why this type of job? Why not quit one of your jobs for a couple weeks and spend that time looking for better ones? Everyone is hiring.
        twojerbs 8y ago
        Because I guess I have more drive to maximize my income than I do integrity. I'm able to do these two simultaneously for the most part.
- bartread 8y ago
  I did 8 months contracting for $large_uk_enterprise and it was exactly like that. I tolerated it for so long because the money was good and I thought I might be able to learn some useful lessons. I got told off more than once for showing initiative and pushing something forward that wasn't on the approved list for the sprint even though I had time and there wasn't anything left to pick up. Yes, mobbing fans, I know, I could have jumped in on a story that already had people working on it. This is what management there said to me as well. Nevertheless I'm rather old fashioned so I have two comments to make: 1) Too many cooks... etc. 2) Adding more people to a project/story that's not going to deliver on time will only make it later. (Here I'm obviously paraphrasing Fred Brooks.) And if it's going to deliver on time then why add more people instead of enabling those people to work on something else that's useful? In the end I gave notice without any plan about what to do next but had three opportunities lined up before I'd worked my notice period and have been much happier since.