4 ms·

Principal software engineer: the old grumpy guy who berates and borderline verbally abuses new/junior engineers and jeopardizes mental health across the org.

kstrauser 5y ago
I'd fire that person immediately. No one's so valuable that they get to poison the work environment.
activistee 5y ago
As a Software Engineer, I consider it my obligation to ensure that people across an organization understand that it is not normal and not acceptable for a Software Engineer to be rude, angry, grumpy or dismissive. The genius mystique must be defeated. I behave as an activist employee: if there's a nerd bringing shame upon nerd kind, I make sure to tackle it head-on. I implore everyone to be activist employees. A nerd who berates someone? Your new mission is to get them out of the organization, and teach everyone who has been in the blast-radius of their bullshit that they were not a god, that their behavior _was not worth it_ no matter how good their code was. You'll change lives for the better, more so than your code ever will.
- amznbyebyebye 5y ago
  Thank you for your service!! We need more of you. The problem is where I work these toxic characters are supported and enabled by equally toxic leadership and executives.
  - activistee 5y ago
    I've found that the shield toxic people have around them is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leadership can be in a difficult position, because their interface to the people suffering the toxic element is often through the toxic element -- and the same is true in reverse -- which masks the problem. Leadership might think "this person is unpleasant to work with" but also think "their team is delivering so they must be doing something right!" which a team can perceive as protection or an endorsement from leadership, but can be challenged quite easily by demonstrating that their behaviour is harming the team. Even if you're confident they do have immunity, and that there's no way to pierce through their immunity, there's still opportunities to have a positive impact. A great place to start is with junior employees: every time there's an incident, reach out to them and let them know that this behaviour isn't normal or acceptable. Junior employees are in the worst position: they don't know what is normal and what is not. As a senior employee, you can say with confidence whether behaviour is normal or not, and so just saying "this is not normal" can make the world of difference to someone junior. Also, depending on the organization, reporting incidents can be useful even if it feels like you're just shouting into the void: you never know when these reports will come in useful.
pc86 5y ago
Wrong, I've met plenty of seniors who fit that bill as well. :)
- amznbyebyebye 5y ago
  No one said it was an exclusive property of principals alone :)
ryanianian 5y ago
You can form a pithy but unnuanced and unhelpful caricature about every level. Junior software engineer: arrogant, self-entitled child who thinks they know everything but doesn't even know what they don't know but insists that their ideas are better, creating a people-hostile minefield across the org.
- herbturbo 5y ago
  Who want to know when they are being promoted in every review.
hu3 5y ago
I'm sorry that was your experience. I have met some amazing people that were tech leads during my career. Some of them titled as principal software engineers. Sometimes it can be hard to find friendly and kind teams. But they do exist. I promise.

kstrauser 5y ago

I'd fire that person immediately. No one's so valuable that they get to poison the work environment.

activistee 5y ago

As a Software Engineer, I consider it my obligation to ensure that people across an organization understand that it is not normal and not acceptable for a Software Engineer to be rude, angry, grumpy or dismissive. The genius mystique must be defeated. I behave as an activist employee: if there's a nerd bringing shame upon nerd kind, I make sure to tackle it head-on. I implore everyone to be activist employees. A nerd who berates someone? Your new mission is to get them out of the organization, and teach everyone who has been in the blast-radius of their bullshit that they were not a god, that their behavior _was not worth it_ no matter how good their code was. You'll change lives for the better, more so than your code ever will.

amznbyebyebye 5y ago
Thank you for your service!! We need more of you. The problem is where I work these toxic characters are supported and enabled by equally toxic leadership and executives.
- activistee 5y ago
  I've found that the shield toxic people have around them is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leadership can be in a difficult position, because their interface to the people suffering the toxic element is often through the toxic element -- and the same is true in reverse -- which masks the problem. Leadership might think "this person is unpleasant to work with" but also think "their team is delivering so they must be doing something right!" which a team can perceive as protection or an endorsement from leadership, but can be challenged quite easily by demonstrating that their behaviour is harming the team. Even if you're confident they do have immunity, and that there's no way to pierce through their immunity, there's still opportunities to have a positive impact. A great place to start is with junior employees: every time there's an incident, reach out to them and let them know that this behaviour isn't normal or acceptable. Junior employees are in the worst position: they don't know what is normal and what is not. As a senior employee, you can say with confidence whether behaviour is normal or not, and so just saying "this is not normal" can make the world of difference to someone junior. Also, depending on the organization, reporting incidents can be useful even if it feels like you're just shouting into the void: you never know when these reports will come in useful.

pc86 5y ago

Wrong, I've met plenty of seniors who fit that bill as well. :)

amznbyebyebye 5y ago
No one said it was an exclusive property of principals alone :)

ryanianian 5y ago

You can form a pithy but unnuanced and unhelpful caricature about every level. Junior software engineer: arrogant, self-entitled child who thinks they know everything but doesn't even know what they don't know but insists that their ideas are better, creating a people-hostile minefield across the org.

herbturbo 5y ago
Who want to know when they are being promoted in every review.

hu3 5y ago

I'm sorry that was your experience. I have met some amazing people that were tech leads during my career. Some of them titled as principal software engineers. Sometimes it can be hard to find friendly and kind teams. But they do exist. I promise.