4 ms·

I find this attitude really tiring. I'm a contractor and I work with people all the time who feel like they must avoid improving anything because if they do the

I find this attitude really tiring. I'm a contractor and I work with people all the time who feel like they must avoid improving anything because if they do they'll be out of a job. It's nonsense. It's the same as the luddites that think robots will tale all the jobs. There will always be something new (and more fun to do) than maintaining broken systems and processes.

hinkley 8y ago
I have been in a couple slightly dicey situations but overall have found that there are always other things I’d like to have time to do if I didn’t spend so much energy babysitting a shitty tool or process. You find out frequently that people who use the tool have ten things they never asked for because the tools don’t even handle basic common sense concerns. It feels like asking for a pony, possibly from a neglectful parent. You fix a few things and get labeled as clever or useful. People come to you with more stuff and it expands your grasp of the organization. For me this strategy has opened up leadership opportunities. You can still be laid off but everybody else will wonder who was the idiot who got rid of the person who was keeping the ship afloat.
- marmaduke 8y ago
  > fix a few things and get labeled as clever or useful. People come to you with more stuff and it expands your grasp of the organization,... Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! > who was the idiot who got rid of the person who was keeping the ship afloat the same that chose the shitty tool for a shitty strategy in the first place
  - PhasmaFelis 8y ago
    > Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! I dunno, I like it when people come to me with problems they need solved. You get to work with a stimulating variety of issues, get to meet more of your coworkers and earn their gratitude, and there's a real satisfaction in knowing that people see you as a capable problem-solver. I'd actually really enjoy having a job as "the guy who makes the tools work better for everyone else."
    - hinkley 8y ago
      > Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! I think that comes down to your disposition. I find meetings and scope negotiation very energy draining but one in one problem solving doesn’t tax me that much. As long as I’m not spinning plates when you come up to me I can usually stop what I’m doing and get back to it later. Hard to solve problems often conceal architectural problems or irreversible decisions and I’d rather be involved long before it becomes intractable.
    - marmaduke 8y ago
      Indeed, solving problems is my favorite part of my job; the issue is more along the lines of not being able to spend more time improving things, and wasting time fixing other people's git mistakes, carrying boxes of server components up 5 flights of stairs because all the elevators are broken, sitting through meetings re-explaining the same things as 6 months ago, because no one takes notes.
shados 8y ago
there will always be something to do because once software A is so easy to use anyone can do it, you can jump to support software B that isn't there yet. But if you poured resources in A with the hope of making supporting A your bread and butter, and A is so easy to use no one needs help, well, you kind of wasted your time and money, UNLESS you managed to make it so popular that the 5% of people who still need help anyway are enough to keep you afloat. That's hard though.

hinkley 8y ago

I have been in a couple slightly dicey situations but overall have found that there are always other things I’d like to have time to do if I didn’t spend so much energy babysitting a shitty tool or process. You find out frequently that people who use the tool have ten things they never asked for because the tools don’t even handle basic common sense concerns. It feels like asking for a pony, possibly from a neglectful parent. You fix a few things and get labeled as clever or useful. People come to you with more stuff and it expands your grasp of the organization. For me this strategy has opened up leadership opportunities. You can still be laid off but everybody else will wonder who was the idiot who got rid of the person who was keeping the ship afloat.

marmaduke 8y ago
> fix a few things and get labeled as clever or useful. People come to you with more stuff and it expands your grasp of the organization,... Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! > who was the idiot who got rid of the person who was keeping the ship afloat the same that chose the shitty tool for a shitty strategy in the first place
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  > Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! I dunno, I like it when people come to me with problems they need solved. You get to work with a stimulating variety of issues, get to meet more of your coworkers and earn their gratitude, and there's a real satisfaction in knowing that people see you as a capable problem-solver. I'd actually really enjoy having a job as "the guy who makes the tools work better for everyone else."
  - hinkley 8y ago
    > Yes, but it's not really a satisfying work experience! I think that comes down to your disposition. I find meetings and scope negotiation very energy draining but one in one problem solving doesn’t tax me that much. As long as I’m not spinning plates when you come up to me I can usually stop what I’m doing and get back to it later. Hard to solve problems often conceal architectural problems or irreversible decisions and I’d rather be involved long before it becomes intractable.
  - marmaduke 8y ago
    Indeed, solving problems is my favorite part of my job; the issue is more along the lines of not being able to spend more time improving things, and wasting time fixing other people's git mistakes, carrying boxes of server components up 5 flights of stairs because all the elevators are broken, sitting through meetings re-explaining the same things as 6 months ago, because no one takes notes.

shados 8y ago

there will always be something to do because once software A is so easy to use anyone can do it, you can jump to support software B that isn't there yet. But if you poured resources in A with the hope of making supporting A your bread and butter, and A is so easy to use no one needs help, well, you kind of wasted your time and money, UNLESS you managed to make it so popular that the 5% of people who still need help anyway are enough to keep you afloat. That's hard though.