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In this thread, we explore more ways in which almost any practice or system works great when someone competent and well-meaning does it, and almost none do when
by brimble 5y ago
In this thread, we explore more ways in which almost any practice or system works great when someone competent and well-meaning does it, and almost none do when someone incompetent or malicious is involved, which is most of the time.
See also: all project management methodology discussions.
- lkrubner 5y agoAre people capable of learning? If not, then why read Hacker News at all? Here is a technique that clearly is powerful when done well, so why not read the anecdotes and try to internalize the lessons? If you are in a leadership position, how about you push yourself to learn what that means, and then push yourself to get better and better? Stories like this are one of many ways to learn a new leadership technique.
- brimble 5y agoThat justifies the article, but I can guarantee this discussion is going to be 99% "nuh uh" and "yeah huh" and both will be right, mostly because of the effect in my post. I'm either a mystic who can predict the future, or these discussions all look exactly the same.
- robertlagrant 5y agoThe parent poster is saying the technique is less important than being well-meaning and trying sincerely. Having said that, perhaps the lesson we can learn here is that reading is a powerful technique to learn to employ.
- brimble 5y agoRight, we're gonna get a lot of "my manager did them and they were great, so I think they're great" and (probably a lot more of) "mine did them and they sucked, so I think they suck" and "I did them and my reports loved them" (true) and "I did them and my reports loved them" (their reports were lying or this person can't read the room) and the reason for those experiences will not have much to do with the practice itself.
- robertlagrant 5y agoI agree. I think there are some ±20% improvements, e.g. "make notes and reread them before the 121", but 80% is just "genuinely try hard to help other people where you can".
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- buscoquadnary 5y agoI can find value in understanding why some people felt they were useless and why others felt they were productive. Most of it probably won't be great, but it helps consider things I did not know I did not know.
- nharada 5y ago> someone incompetent or malicious is involved, which is most of the time This is interesting, I'd love to hear what percentage of the time this is for most HNers here. I've definitely had some "incompetent or malicious" managers but it's definitely not more than 50%. Is my experience uncommon?
- ugh123 5y agoI think a more reasonable response to this is to say this practice/system works great when all parties agree on its goals and processes to reach those goals.