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I respectfully disagree, at least in part. Despite the overwhelming number of things that I have read to the contrary I have never worked anywhere where my acc

I respectfully disagree, at least in part. Despite the overwhelming number of things that I have read to the contrary I have never worked anywhere where my accomplishments were overlooked. Honestly, in many situations I've found that merely being competent has lead to being rewarded as excellent. I find turning things around and sharing the credit inevitably leads to more allies and a bigger pool of credit going around. If someone thanks me for something that worked out then I almost invariably thank them for supporting the project, being clear and flexible and understanding the times when things did not always look so rosey. Be public in praising people that make it easier for you to do the good work that you want to do and you will be rewarded exponentially when the chips are down. My goal is to be completely anonymous because I find it almost impossible to get any coding done when I'm the goto guy with people needing my attention all day long. Quiet reliability and competence trump grandstanding over the long haul every time.

tptacek 18y ago
I'm not advocating grandstanding or hogging credit for things, but "quiet reliability and competence" empirically do not trump grandstanding in the business world. See: every issue of the Wall Street Journal from today back through 1882. What have your roles been? In engineering and the sciences, quiet competance is indeed (mostly) the norm. We're not talking about that.
- bobochan 18y ago
  I have been all over the map (literally), but most of my work has been in finance. I agree that your sentiment is the prevailing wisdom, I just have never found it to be particularly true. It is perhaps counter intuitive but in my experience showing gratitude and humility has lead to an extremely happy existence and a constant stream of bonus money and tickets to the company's suite at Fenway.
run4yourlives 18y ago
>My goal is to be completely anonymous because I find it almost impossible to get any coding done when I'm the goto guy with people needing my attention all day long. I think you're missing the point here. Assuming you want to get promoted to something beyond coder, you'll need to be something more than a coder. Assuming you are perfectly happy doing what you are already doing, there's no real reason to be worried about advancing your career at all.
- bobochan 18y ago
  > promoted to something beyond coder Many of the organizations that I have worked for have management and technical tracks that lead up the presidency. Organizations with a lot of money on the line are more than happy to provide advancing career paths to people that keep things working. I'm absolutely estatic doing what I am doing, thank you, but I never object to another superlative being added to my job title or another increase in my income.

tptacek 18y ago

I'm not advocating grandstanding or hogging credit for things, but "quiet reliability and competence" empirically do not trump grandstanding in the business world. See: every issue of the Wall Street Journal from today back through 1882. What have your roles been? In engineering and the sciences, quiet competance is indeed (mostly) the norm. We're not talking about that.

bobochan 18y ago
I have been all over the map (literally), but most of my work has been in finance. I agree that your sentiment is the prevailing wisdom, I just have never found it to be particularly true. It is perhaps counter intuitive but in my experience showing gratitude and humility has lead to an extremely happy existence and a constant stream of bonus money and tickets to the company's suite at Fenway.

run4yourlives 18y ago

>My goal is to be completely anonymous because I find it almost impossible to get any coding done when I'm the goto guy with people needing my attention all day long. I think you're missing the point here. Assuming you want to get promoted to something beyond coder, you'll need to be something more than a coder. Assuming you are perfectly happy doing what you are already doing, there's no real reason to be worried about advancing your career at all.

bobochan 18y ago
> promoted to something beyond coder Many of the organizations that I have worked for have management and technical tracks that lead up the presidency. Organizations with a lot of money on the line are more than happy to provide advancing career paths to people that keep things working. I'm absolutely estatic doing what I am doing, thank you, but I never object to another superlative being added to my job title or another increase in my income.