3 ms·
Its definitely truer than I'd have believed until recently. I have a co-worker whose technical chops are, let's say, below average. He tends to get a bit mulish
by mrkstu 7y ago
Its definitely truer than I'd have believed until recently. I have a co-worker whose technical chops are, let's say, below average. He tends to get a bit mulish about things and when troubleshooting often focuses on the wrong area.
In the past I'd have wanted someone like him replaced with someone higher skilled. But in his case, he is often invaluable. He is great about being responsive to interior customer/stakeholders. He is gregarious and great at relationships. He is wonderful at vendor relations.
The team is just big enough that having someone with those skills is invaluable in a team filled with technically minded introverts with many likely mildly on the spectrum. We can afford to carry him on his technical demerits while he carries us in our weakest areas.
- darkerside 7y agoHow do you deal with newer members of the team? Are you worried that his lack of skill will "rub off" in any way with talented but less experienced people who may look to him for guidance?
- mrkstu 7y agoIts pretty quickly obvious that I'm the technical lead to new people and they come to me for those things and go to him for 'soft' info. Works very well. The most recent additions are an interesting mix- I recommended a previous co-worker and she's come in and been a mixed skill set as well- she's older and less flexible in learning new stuff, but customer focused and an old hand with a lot of knowledge. Two new younger guys with a lot of energy and willingness to learn have been great to work with as I help them learn our stack of solutions. Again a wide mix of aptitudes has been enriching to the team beyond what younger me would have thought. That previous version of me would have wanted a bunch of technical hot shots that were all wanting to learn quickly and excel at everything.