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Similarly, I've tried to power through issues and leverage my ability to focus and grind through hard problems rather than communicate the problems and my situa
by steve_adams_86 5y ago
Similarly, I've tried to power through issues and leverage my ability to focus and grind through hard problems rather than communicate the problems and my situation.
Sometimes it impressed people that I 'got things done', but that isn't as great of a gain as the inverse is damaging. People could become frustrated about delays if I didn't manage to power through it in time, or they'd be confused and/or concerned that I never thought to communicate events with them.
Part of this, at the fundamental layers of this failure, was a desire for everything to always be alright. I didn't want people to think I was struggling, or to think I encountered issues due to my own faults. That in itself is poor communication, both with myself and other people. I really didn't want to think I was failing, let alone that others thought I was.
Ironically, people tend to like it when you communicate your problems or struggles so they know where you're at and what to expect.
After 15 years I've encouraged countless coworkers to follow this advice – I have a great eye for it now – but of course I still struggle with it.
Communication is a big part of working smart. Don't sacrifice communication and work harder as a result.
In tech it can be hard. It's easy to think everyone else knows what the hell they're doing. The truth is, most of us are winging it at least half the time. Like running simulations until something works, then examining it to be sure it works for the reasons we think it does. That's bizarre. It's fine if you struggle, (almost) everyone gets it.
- atatatat 5y agoDo you have a blog//email address?
- steve_adams_86 5y agoI used to blog on https://steve-adams.me https://steve-adams.me, but stopped due to time and energy constraints. You can find me by emailing steve @ that domain, though.
- antihipocrat 5y agoI think a lot of reluctance to communicate problems is due to a lack of trust. If you are building an environment where management supports staff and mentors them, I believe it creates a culture where staff are also more likely to do the same with each other. In my experience this type of culture is quite rare, and I think it's great that you are encouraging this in your own organization.
- steve_adams_86 5y agoI completely agree that it’s a matter of trust – I really like that observation. At my current company I find the people I work with to be exceptionally good at support and mentoring, and it’s a real luxury. I can comfortably admit I’m rusty on some math or find certain tasks in Rust challenging, and I’m just met with support and encouragement. We might hit a whiteboard or share strategies to solve types of problems, and there’s no moment of wondering why I’m not already proficient. Even if I struggle with a problem in my area of focus, where I’m expected to know the most, they never treat me like I should know better or like they’re somehow disappointed. So while I hope I contribute to that culture of support and mentoring, I can’t help but point out that my team makes it effortless and I’m very fortunate for that. Like you mentioned, it really is rare.