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What the author is outlining is a management paradox when managing by indicators, combined with some egotrippin'. It is hard to punish people for working hard

What the author is outlining is a management paradox when managing by indicators, combined with some egotrippin'. It is hard to punish people for working hard and fixing something, when they are fixing something they created that was crappy from the start! And then the team that is highly-tuned and made a perfect design from the start shows very little improvement because it is already perfect. The indicators flip the script and make it hard to decide who actually deserves accolades. The correct answer is that they both do: one team for figuring out their mess, the other team for executing flawlessly. But the flawless people, in my experience, tend to have big egos and are offended by the seemingly equitable treatment. The part about ego trip is the "always looking out for yourself." On the one hand, you have to promote yourself, on the other hand, you're part of a team. And manipulating the system to make to make sure you get preferred assignments backfires spectacularly. Which is why those folks tend to switch companies a lot. I'm ambivalent about this. It can be taken as some tips as how to be be assertive by not getting shafted by evildoers like the author (remember that debate from last week on HN?), which are healthy. But there's also a lot of "me first" that'll get you shivved in the long run.

razzimatazz 5y ago
My favorite is the times when I have dived in to fix performance of the system, found the place where I or a team mate left in a terribly unnecessary loop or increased complexity, quickly fix that and report back the great success in improving performance! Great indicator there for management. I think the person/team following such a path does deserve accolades but if their ego blocks them from admitting honestly how difficult the work was, others will sense (maybe not management) the dishonesty sooner or later and problems will eventually develop. I always give my team mates accolades and offer them excuses when they've messed up: "we were really busy that week", "its easy to forget to bump the minor version", "that manual testing work is tough". If they choose to ignore the offered excuse and go silent with their ego I think it stands out sorely over time. If they accept it then we all know what we have to improve on next time.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  > I always give my team mates accolades and offer them excuses when they've messed up: " I like that a lot! Engineers almost always know when they've screwed up. No need to thunk people over the head: I've been thunked (and screamed at, and threatened, and humiliated) so many times that I made sure that bullshit ended with my management style.* Unless they do it repeatedly, or are totally unaware... those are some of the worst types of situations for me personally as a manager. * to the best of my knowledge: blindspots abound, esp. across cultures.

razzimatazz 5y ago

My favorite is the times when I have dived in to fix performance of the system, found the place where I or a team mate left in a terribly unnecessary loop or increased complexity, quickly fix that and report back the great success in improving performance! Great indicator there for management. I think the person/team following such a path does deserve accolades but if their ego blocks them from admitting honestly how difficult the work was, others will sense (maybe not management) the dishonesty sooner or later and problems will eventually develop. I always give my team mates accolades and offer them excuses when they've messed up: "we were really busy that week", "its easy to forget to bump the minor version", "that manual testing work is tough". If they choose to ignore the offered excuse and go silent with their ego I think it stands out sorely over time. If they accept it then we all know what we have to improve on next time.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
> I always give my team mates accolades and offer them excuses when they've messed up: " I like that a lot! Engineers almost always know when they've screwed up. No need to thunk people over the head: I've been thunked (and screamed at, and threatened, and humiliated) so many times that I made sure that bullshit ended with my management style.* Unless they do it repeatedly, or are totally unaware... those are some of the worst types of situations for me personally as a manager. * to the best of my knowledge: blindspots abound, esp. across cultures.