5 ms·

A bit show-off but when you fix an existing issue that no one were able to, that's also delivering.

goatinaboat 7y ago
It will impress your fellow engineers but management won’t care at bonus time. It’s the classic sysadmin’s dilemma: the better you are, the more the organisation takes you for granted.
- babesh 7y ago
  They will say that you did a good job fixing the issue but most mid level managers won't give you a bonus for that. In fact, in the next breath, they will criticize you for not putting in enough effort into introducing new tech. Fixing the problem is an opportunity cost. The only exception I have seen to the above is if you catch the eye of top level engineering management by your actions. I have seen major problems lingering for years because management's actions have shown that they don't value problems being fixed. Furthermore, when bugs become a priority, the metrics they care about are bug fix time. You are better off not being associated with a difficult bug because it lowers your close rate and lengthens your average time to close bugs. Perverse incentives.
- emmelaich 7y ago
  This is the key usually; engineers will maintain out of a sense of pride or knowledge that it is actually important. Managers have very little skin in the game to ensure that proper maintenance is done. There are errors on both sides of course. The engineer can miss the forest for the trees.
- Jach 7y ago
  It might not impact your bonus but it can be added to a doc detailing your accomplishments for justifying a promotion (or at least as a potential topic reminder when interviewing), and can help ensure positive feedback from coworkers when management asks them about you. If there's anything generalizable from the experience ("I once saw something similar and so I did such and such to try to confirm or rule it out") you can sometimes multiply the value to yourself and the company by documenting it, automating it, hosting a lunch and learn type of thing... It all depends of course.. But in any case you have to be the primary person looking out for your own interests since it's the rare manager who will go beyond the minimum guidance, support, and feedback. On the other hand some engineers go too far on self-interest and seemingly start the fires that they then 'heroically' fight to get high level cross-team attention and fast-tracked up the ladder...
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  Pretty much everybody in this thread is putting the blame on management. Man, no wonder SV is such a shitshow. Either all management is that retarded or all the developers eschew responsibility for their actions.
imhoguy 7y ago
I have noticed the very good maintainers are so indispensable that they hardly get promotion or let go into other stuff. That bound dies with the maintained product. Unfortunatelly for some maintainers it is layoff sentence.

It will impress your fellow engineers but management won’t care at bonus time. It’s the classic sysadmin’s dilemma: the better you are, the more the organisation takes you for granted.

babesh 7y ago
They will say that you did a good job fixing the issue but most mid level managers won't give you a bonus for that. In fact, in the next breath, they will criticize you for not putting in enough effort into introducing new tech. Fixing the problem is an opportunity cost. The only exception I have seen to the above is if you catch the eye of top level engineering management by your actions. I have seen major problems lingering for years because management's actions have shown that they don't value problems being fixed. Furthermore, when bugs become a priority, the metrics they care about are bug fix time. You are better off not being associated with a difficult bug because it lowers your close rate and lengthens your average time to close bugs. Perverse incentives.
emmelaich 7y ago
This is the key usually; engineers will maintain out of a sense of pride or knowledge that it is actually important. Managers have very little skin in the game to ensure that proper maintenance is done. There are errors on both sides of course. The engineer can miss the forest for the trees.
Jach 7y ago
It might not impact your bonus but it can be added to a doc detailing your accomplishments for justifying a promotion (or at least as a potential topic reminder when interviewing), and can help ensure positive feedback from coworkers when management asks them about you. If there's anything generalizable from the experience ("I once saw something similar and so I did such and such to try to confirm or rule it out") you can sometimes multiply the value to yourself and the company by documenting it, automating it, hosting a lunch and learn type of thing... It all depends of course.. But in any case you have to be the primary person looking out for your own interests since it's the rare manager who will go beyond the minimum guidance, support, and feedback. On the other hand some engineers go too far on self-interest and seemingly start the fires that they then 'heroically' fight to get high level cross-team attention and fast-tracked up the ladder...
AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
Pretty much everybody in this thread is putting the blame on management. Man, no wonder SV is such a shitshow. Either all management is that retarded or all the developers eschew responsibility for their actions.

imhoguy 7y ago

I have noticed the very good maintainers are so indispensable that they hardly get promotion or let go into other stuff. That bound dies with the maintained product. Unfortunatelly for some maintainers it is layoff sentence.