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You need to be very careful about a label like "negative person". I have been accused of being a negative person before. We had some tracking web application
by ilaksh 5y ago
You need to be very careful about a label like "negative person".
I have been accused of being a negative person before. We had some tracking web application which had an editor which took very long to load on the web page and made it painful to enter new data. I was in a meeting and said plainly that the editor component "sucked". I was chastised by the manager for being negative.
Meanwhile as soon as I got out of the meeting, I googled it and found that there was an option to disable the graphical editor, which we did. Because it sucked (was unacceptably slow).
For many people, simply pointing out a problem is "negativity". Part of the reason it's like that is that many people have little to no problem solving skills or experience. So describing a problem is just noise, since there is nothing they can usually do to resolve problems.
Whereas someone who has a lot of experience solving problems knows that the first step to solving problems is to acknowledge that they exist.
- AussieWog93 5y agoMaybe it's a cultural thing, but it seems odd to me that an adult would use the word "sucked" in that context.
- ilaksh 5y agoWhich by saying that you imply that I was acting childishly. Culturally we are different then. That part of the system sucked as it was currently implemented. It was and still is an apt description. I will be happy if we don't attempt to communicate in the future, since we have a different culture.
- AussieWog93 5y agoYes, that was the implication. I suspect your manager saw things the same way too.
- cellularmitosis 5y agoWas this editor the work of someone on your team? (or some third-party component?)
- ilaksh 5y agoIf you read my comment closely you would know the answer to that question. But you missed the point anyway.
- marcosdumay 5y agoIt's not clear from your comment. It implies that it was not made by anybody on your company, but it doesn't assert it (and there are plenty of cases where one would google about something somebody nearby had developed). And the GP is not missing your point, you are missing his. He is trying to point that if it was an internal development maybe your language was indeed rude (that really depends on a lot of context to decide). If that's the case, your manager may not be wrong.
- Tabular-Iceberg 5y agoNegative, unconstructive criticism is highly underrated. Sometimes that’s all you need, and it’s a waste of time to try to embellish it, if the reporter is even qualified to do so. I’ve never felt such relief as when a salesman pulled me aside to tell me the product sucked and for me to explain what the hell I was doing. Now I finally had an ally against all the yes men who were blocking real improvements.
- aahortwwy 5y ago> I was in a meeting and said plainly that the editor component "sucked". When you communicate using harsh or even rude language many people will ignore what you said and respond to how you said it. Communicate this way more than once or twice and people will permanently put you on the "pay no mind" list -- no matter how great your ideas you'll find yourself perpetually ignored. I have met a lot of capable and productive people in the software industry who do not know this.
- ilaksh 5y agoIt wasn't rude, it was a good way to describe it. People who would write me off for using that word don't deserve my time. You missed the point, it wasn't about that word or about me.