6 ms·
Why are you pretending to program the full 9-5? I like the office and am currently working in the office but I just... get up and leave whenever I want. Come b
by yupper32 5y ago
Why are you pretending to program the full 9-5?
I like the office and am currently working in the office but I just... get up and leave whenever I want. Come back whenever I want. No need to pretend to work 9-5.
- derekp7 5y agoHere's a story that explains this concept. A programmer goes to his manager, presenting a paper with a lengthy problem for the manager to solve. The manager looks over the paper, thinks for a few minutes, then writes down the answer. The employee then tells the manager "What were you doing for the last 5 minutes? It didn't look like you were working at all". The manager responds saying "I was thinking about the problem before coming up with the solution". The programmer then informs the manager that this is what it is like to write code all day. But since programming looks like you are just sitting there not doing anything for much of the time, then you have to pretend to be doing something whenever someone walks by so it doesn't look like you are just goofing off (otherwise they feel that they can interrupt you breaking your train of thought). And that makes programming less efficient. The manager was then enlightened.
- rizzaxc 5y agoevery manager worth their salt climbs from being an engineer, so they should already know this
- changxi_hn 5y agoI'm a software manager and this isn't what happens in practice at all. The more comfortable they are, the sloppier and lazy their resulting code as they feel no pressure to take their work seriously. I can, and will, stand behind devs for hours to keep them determined and on-task.
- Trasmatta 5y agoSurely this post is parody, right?
- alecbz 5y agoI think maybe this is some kind of local optimum, but a poor one. Like if your devs already don't give two shits about anything, pressure from you watching over them might improve things somewhat. But like the real fix is a path to a much better optimum, which is giving employees autonomy, trusting them, rewarding them adequately, getting them to actually care, so that they don't need to be watched over as individual code monkeys.
- changxi_hn 5y agoNo. I'm the manager, they're the dev. If they want autonomy, become an artist.
- toomanydoubts 5y agoSmall wiener energy.
- alecbz 5y agoDo you want to feel powerful or to have productive devs?
- toomanydoubts 5y agoI'm not a psychic, but I sense your software manager career is not going very far.
- _9omd 5y agoI seriously hope this is sarcasm. The best devs I know are the ones that goof off the most, because they're the ones that know they're good at what they do. The crappy devs are the ones who sit quietly at their desks all day and pretend to get work done. I think you should seriously reconsider your management style.
- khazhoux 5y agoIt's sarcasm
- unobatbayar 5y agoThis is exactly what I've seen and experienced. The best devs that are goofing off, are the bedrock of a great work environment.
- TheGigaChad 5y ago
- MattGaiser 5y agoAt least in my case, praise has often been given out based on time of work rather than work. I am a hard worker because I send 2AM emails (which I may have scheduled in advance to give that impression).
- dymk 5y agoDoes "praise" mean "cash" or "promotion" (and if so, does "promotion" mean "more cash")? If not, why would you care about praise?
- MattGaiser 5y agoBenefit of the doubt if something takes longer than I estimate or if I decide to casually take an afternoon off to go talk to my aunt.
- dymk 5y agoIs that not table stakes for any software engineering job?
- Trasmatta 5y agoThat's pretty cool you work for a company with a culture that makes that possible. You're probably in the minority when it comes to office workers, though. > Why are you pretending to program the full 9-5? I'm not, because I now work from home. Where people value my actual work output, and not the hours I'm sitting in a chair, where my manager can see me.
- _9omd 5y agoThis 100%. People are acting like someone is chaining them to their desk. Seriously, just get up! No one is going to say shit, you have all the power in this current market. I'm a huge fan of 2hr lunches that include a nap in the park. Get my best ideas walking to/from the park.
- throwawayboise 5y agoThis can be quite true. I have gone weeks barely checking email and nobody said anything. Nobody even noticed.