3 ms·

That really depends on the company culture. When "innovation" only flows top-down (execs->PMs->BAs->devs) with no way up then yeah. But as a PhD student I can h

That really depends on the company culture. When "innovation" only flows top-down (execs->PMs->BAs->devs) with no way up then yeah. But as a PhD student I can have many more ideas, and of higher quality, during a half-hour lunch break with colleagues compared to a whole day thinking by myself - and I have the freedom to pursue any of those ideas on my own terms.

xwolfi 5y ago
How much money are you making vs cost, on implementing your innovations? In a big company, you increase the bottom line by millions by profiling a 10 yo application for a few days, the exact opposite of innovation (studying someone else's old crap). So dream and pursue, but when you want to build, expect to grind a bit.
- greesil 5y ago
  Yes but what is your profiler is a piece of crap, and the innovation is to modify it to suit your needs better? And, you take that engineer out to lunch who knows the most about it and pick their brains and come up with ideas.
greesil 5y ago
Lunchtime with colleagues is always the best for making silly ideas workable. If anything, the open office plan discourages conversation because shhhh some people are actually trying to get work done.
- leetrout 5y ago
  Exactly this. Open floor plans always punished me for gathering folks around my whiteboard and talking through things and bantering like we would at the water cooler and companies want things to be as quiet as a library
- curun1r 5y ago
  I’ve said this in other threads on this topic, but shared lunches are so important. There’s something about eating together that taps into our primitive brains and creates an entirely different dynamic. It’s like we subconsciously see the people we eat with as part of our tribe. Lunch is, IMHO, the biggest loss when going full remote. It’s also somewhat of a magic bullet for fixing individual communication breakdowns. As a manager, when you see two people failing to coordinate, especially across teams, just have them eat a few lunches together. Offering to have the company pay is usually enough to make it happen. For a few tens of dollars, you establish a relationship with very low communication friction. It’s ridiculously good value for the company.
Corrado 5y ago
My team is remote but we (used to) get together once a quarter and work in the same space for several days. The most productive part of the day was the walk to/from the office. The office was close to the hotel and had several coffee shops between them. My teammates and I would walk to work, stop to get some coffee, and chat about all kinds of stuff. Some of it was work, but most of it was family, tech news, cars, etc. Ultimately, it was a great team building experience and I feel much closer to my team because of it. We're much freer in our conversations and thoughts even now than we are with some of the newer members of the team that haven't had this experience (ie. COVID-19). Hopefully, we'll get back to quarterly on-sites soon so I can bond with my team again. And since we downsized the physical office location, I'm petitioning to meet somewhere cool - like at the beach, or a ski trip. Might as well have some fun too.

xwolfi 5y ago

How much money are you making vs cost, on implementing your innovations? In a big company, you increase the bottom line by millions by profiling a 10 yo application for a few days, the exact opposite of innovation (studying someone else's old crap). So dream and pursue, but when you want to build, expect to grind a bit.

greesil 5y ago
Yes but what is your profiler is a piece of crap, and the innovation is to modify it to suit your needs better? And, you take that engineer out to lunch who knows the most about it and pick their brains and come up with ideas.

greesil 5y ago

Lunchtime with colleagues is always the best for making silly ideas workable. If anything, the open office plan discourages conversation because shhhh some people are actually trying to get work done.

leetrout 5y ago
Exactly this. Open floor plans always punished me for gathering folks around my whiteboard and talking through things and bantering like we would at the water cooler and companies want things to be as quiet as a library
curun1r 5y ago
I’ve said this in other threads on this topic, but shared lunches are so important. There’s something about eating together that taps into our primitive brains and creates an entirely different dynamic. It’s like we subconsciously see the people we eat with as part of our tribe. Lunch is, IMHO, the biggest loss when going full remote. It’s also somewhat of a magic bullet for fixing individual communication breakdowns. As a manager, when you see two people failing to coordinate, especially across teams, just have them eat a few lunches together. Offering to have the company pay is usually enough to make it happen. For a few tens of dollars, you establish a relationship with very low communication friction. It’s ridiculously good value for the company.

Corrado 5y ago

My team is remote but we (used to) get together once a quarter and work in the same space for several days. The most productive part of the day was the walk to/from the office. The office was close to the hotel and had several coffee shops between them. My teammates and I would walk to work, stop to get some coffee, and chat about all kinds of stuff. Some of it was work, but most of it was family, tech news, cars, etc. Ultimately, it was a great team building experience and I feel much closer to my team because of it. We're much freer in our conversations and thoughts even now than we are with some of the newer members of the team that haven't had this experience (ie. COVID-19). Hopefully, we'll get back to quarterly on-sites soon so I can bond with my team again. And since we downsized the physical office location, I'm petitioning to meet somewhere cool - like at the beach, or a ski trip. Might as well have some fun too.