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Focus is woefully undervalued, I think. I haven't had a single job as a software engineer that didn't have a constant background of distractions and interrupti

Focus is woefully undervalued, I think. I haven't had a single job as a software engineer that didn't have a constant background of distractions and interruption that prevented work from getting done. My current job is great, but its biggest issue is the sheer amount of interruption and poor organization of information that makes it difficult to get work done in a timely way. When I have to switch contexts frequently, for lack of a less cliche term, it takes even more time for me to get back up to speed with where I'd left off. Some people are clearly better at this than others, but I'd bet that those who can handle context switching well would still do even better under a system that valued focus. I don't think this really has much to do with introversion(which everyone has a different definition of and, in my experience, everyone claims they are, making the term worthless IMO). This last weekend I did something that I normally refuse to do, which was to catch up on work. I still dedicated most of my time towards non-work, yet being able to work without interruption was not only a breath of fresh air but seemed to allow me to get more done in the same amount of time. My guess as to why organizations don't care about focus is that they value the perception of "getting things done"; when engineers that need focus are frequently interrupted by the process, they'll shift to getting smaller tasks done first so that management will know that they're working on something. Organizations will tend to tolerate a more complex task taking longer than estimated, but in my experience are less tolerant of engineers not pushing lines of code for days because they're taking time to implement said complex task in a good way. In essence, it's a spin on "butts in seats", except it creates the illusion of productivity when in reality it could mean counter-productivity. I'm not exactly sure that having the process wall people off from interrupting each other is necessarily a good thing. What would be better is a good planning process that limits unnecessary change combined with a working culture that values focus. EDIT: I'm not talking about legitimate interruptions like when someone needs help or wants to pair program. I'm talking about interruptions that are either environment related or are a result of process failure(e.g. new tasks and course corrections frequently added to the pile because of poor planning). Although I can imagine some would want to limit "good interruptions" to a window, if possible.

chrisbennet 7y ago
I think that open offices are great - for my competition. :-) One advantages of being the "little independent consultant" is that I can control my environment. I think you can reduce a geniuses output by a fair percentage just by adding distractions (like all sitting at the same table as your colleagues).
- criddell 7y ago
  For some kinds of work, open offices are the most expensive type.
throwaway55554 7y ago
My experience based on a not short career in several industries is that the worst focus killer is a manager who only knows how to put numbers in a spreadsheet. Those numbers have to come from somewhere and that is almost always from bugging their direct reports. These managers feel the need (and some of that is also pressure from their managers doing the same thing) to have a finger on the pulse of what's going on as they claim, but what is really happening is they feel that they have to show how hard they're working. So, they're constantly asking (basically), "is it done yet?". They best managers I have had are stealthy. They'll monitor from afar mostly (while getting their work done). They get updates during appropriate times. They respect their direct reports and understand that one can't get anything done with constant interruptions. They shield their direct reports from outside interruptions as well. They do, however, interrupt when they get a sense of something slowing down or blocking. They'll work with the individual or team to quickly get things moving again. Sadly, the former outnumbers the latter by like 9:1.
vb6sp6 7y ago
> My guess as to why organizations don't care about focus is that they value the perception of "getting things done" You can categorize your interruptions to see where your org is failing. For me, it's people dropping in to ask questions because it is easier to walk by and get an answer than to dig in to the problem and find it themselves.
- 7y ago

chrisbennet 7y ago

I think that open offices are great - for my competition. :-) One advantages of being the "little independent consultant" is that I can control my environment. I think you can reduce a geniuses output by a fair percentage just by adding distractions (like all sitting at the same table as your colleagues).

criddell 7y ago
For some kinds of work, open offices are the most expensive type.

throwaway55554 7y ago

My experience based on a not short career in several industries is that the worst focus killer is a manager who only knows how to put numbers in a spreadsheet. Those numbers have to come from somewhere and that is almost always from bugging their direct reports. These managers feel the need (and some of that is also pressure from their managers doing the same thing) to have a finger on the pulse of what's going on as they claim, but what is really happening is they feel that they have to show how hard they're working. So, they're constantly asking (basically), "is it done yet?". They best managers I have had are stealthy. They'll monitor from afar mostly (while getting their work done). They get updates during appropriate times. They respect their direct reports and understand that one can't get anything done with constant interruptions. They shield their direct reports from outside interruptions as well. They do, however, interrupt when they get a sense of something slowing down or blocking. They'll work with the individual or team to quickly get things moving again. Sadly, the former outnumbers the latter by like 9:1.

vb6sp6 7y ago

> My guess as to why organizations don't care about focus is that they value the perception of "getting things done" You can categorize your interruptions to see where your org is failing. For me, it's people dropping in to ask questions because it is easier to walk by and get an answer than to dig in to the problem and find it themselves.

7y ago