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Speaking as someone who was 'that guy', it's pretty possible they don't know how badly they come across. A lot of engineers (and people in general) struggle wit

Speaking as someone who was 'that guy', it's pretty possible they don't know how badly they come across. A lot of engineers (and people in general) struggle with social skills. Are you the only one having issues with them? Maybe you could bring it to their attention quietly, and if they're writing bad code it should never pass review.

daenz 5y ago
Other engineers have expressed a subset of my concerns about this person, including 2 that have left the company. Wrt reviews, this person is extremely disagreeable, so suggestions about improvements are not met with the usual compromises. What usually ends up happening is their changes make it through if they don't introduce clear security risks, and everyone just deals with the new complexity, versus engaging in endless debates. Nobody has the time or energy to constantly fight this person. They don't seem open to learning or hearing other points of view.
- LinuxBender 5y ago
  In my opinion that sounds like a problem with the engineers manager and the managers boss. If your company culture supports it, the entire team can escalate to the managers boss and have the manager seek new opportunities elsewhere. If the culture does not support skip-level escalations, then the entire team should go elsewhere.
- misterflibble 5y ago
  I wish I could offer helpful advice, but it's very tricky. I would be very careful working with them as you know that their behaviour could reflect poorly on you. If you have to work with them, I think you can only try to keep it professional, create an audit trail by keeping everything in writing, and try to involve other team members in your discussions so that you're not just dealing with them 1-on-1. I worked with someone just like that a few years ago: recently promoted to a Senior role, highly argumentative, bossy, and wouldn't accept constructive criticism. They eventually left the company. We're all fighting personal battles, it's a shame this sort of character chooses to battle with others as well

daenz 5y ago

Other engineers have expressed a subset of my concerns about this person, including 2 that have left the company. Wrt reviews, this person is extremely disagreeable, so suggestions about improvements are not met with the usual compromises. What usually ends up happening is their changes make it through if they don't introduce clear security risks, and everyone just deals with the new complexity, versus engaging in endless debates. Nobody has the time or energy to constantly fight this person. They don't seem open to learning or hearing other points of view.

LinuxBender 5y ago
In my opinion that sounds like a problem with the engineers manager and the managers boss. If your company culture supports it, the entire team can escalate to the managers boss and have the manager seek new opportunities elsewhere. If the culture does not support skip-level escalations, then the entire team should go elsewhere.
misterflibble 5y ago
I wish I could offer helpful advice, but it's very tricky. I would be very careful working with them as you know that their behaviour could reflect poorly on you. If you have to work with them, I think you can only try to keep it professional, create an audit trail by keeping everything in writing, and try to involve other team members in your discussions so that you're not just dealing with them 1-on-1. I worked with someone just like that a few years ago: recently promoted to a Senior role, highly argumentative, bossy, and wouldn't accept constructive criticism. They eventually left the company. We're all fighting personal battles, it's a shame this sort of character chooses to battle with others as well