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What should a staff/principal engineer do if company culture is against change? Posted a related question here, if that's a better place to discuss this questi

What should a staff/principal engineer do if company culture is against change? Posted a related question here, if that's a better place to discuss this question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19130451 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19130451

tristanperry 8y ago
It can be a tricky one, but fundamentally the _reason_ why change isn't happening needs to be understood. A company full of smart people is unlikely to _never_ want change for any reason - especially if that change would clearly make everyone's life easier. But maybe everyone is overloaded with work and a bit burnt out, so 'big' change is scary to them? Or perhaps the 'important change' really isn't that important? I've worked with devs before who have spoken for hours a day on the need to change x, y and z, when in reality it wasn't fully needed (and/or their suggestions stemmed from misunderstandings). I guess my latter point there relates to the fact that there's not always a single "right way" of doing something. Now I know that this might sound like I'm the same as the people shooting down your suggestions in your linked 'Ask HN' thread. Trust me, I'm not like that: I left my previous job a few months ago for the exact same reasons that you have outlined (i.e. there was clear change that was needed, but the 'powers that be' weren't willing to make those changes). But to circle back to your question: assuming there aren't massive organizational problems at a company, change usually needs to be made slowly-but-surely with the buy-in of any previous 'change blockers' (where possible). Anyone trying to force through lots of change in a short period of time will usually struggle. If even minor change is not possible, there's two main possibilities: 1) You're wrong about the change, and you might be the problem. 2) You're right about the change, the company is dysfunctional, and moving to a new job is the answer. From your linked thread, (2) does sound like the situation in your case (fortunately/unfortunately).

tristanperry 8y ago

It can be a tricky one, but fundamentally the _reason_ why change isn't happening needs to be understood. A company full of smart people is unlikely to _never_ want change for any reason - especially if that change would clearly make everyone's life easier. But maybe everyone is overloaded with work and a bit burnt out, so 'big' change is scary to them? Or perhaps the 'important change' really isn't that important? I've worked with devs before who have spoken for hours a day on the need to change x, y and z, when in reality it wasn't fully needed (and/or their suggestions stemmed from misunderstandings). I guess my latter point there relates to the fact that there's not always a single "right way" of doing something. Now I know that this might sound like I'm the same as the people shooting down your suggestions in your linked 'Ask HN' thread. Trust me, I'm not like that: I left my previous job a few months ago for the exact same reasons that you have outlined (i.e. there was clear change that was needed, but the 'powers that be' weren't willing to make those changes). But to circle back to your question: assuming there aren't massive organizational problems at a company, change usually needs to be made slowly-but-surely with the buy-in of any previous 'change blockers' (where possible). Anyone trying to force through lots of change in a short period of time will usually struggle. If even minor change is not possible, there's two main possibilities: 1) You're wrong about the change, and you might be the problem. 2) You're right about the change, the company is dysfunctional, and moving to a new job is the answer. From your linked thread, (2) does sound like the situation in your case (fortunately/unfortunately).