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I don’t understand how delivering software is related to “how can I prepare for hard economic times?” Let me tell you, as one of the highest performing team me

I don’t understand how delivering software is related to “how can I prepare for hard economic times?” Let me tell you, as one of the highest performing team members in every organization I’ve been at: if a manager doesn’t care about you, no amount of performance will help you. It didn’t help me. And whether a manager cares about you is mostly luck of the draw. Sure, there’s politics at play. But the most common situation is that you’re not really helpful to their career mobility. In that situation, “learn to ship software” is the opposite of helpful. If your manager doesn’t have your back, and you can sense this, you need to look for a new job. Because I guarantee you’ll be the first to go. It all comes down to whether some dude in a proverbial suit likes you. (Isn’t it interesting how it’s always some dude? I feel like women would be better suited to actually caring about team members.) You should at least mention to those young devs that performance is one of the least important aspects of being a part of a team, for 97% of companies. It’s table stakes. Raising the stakes won’t help you if you can’t play the game. As for preparing for hard economic times, my advice is pretty simple. Exploit the good times, and never assume it will last. If you can’t survive losing your income for three months, make changes. That’s pretty much it.

ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
Well, for one thing, it means that you have no problem hanging your own shingle. This is useful, for example, if you are an older fellow, and no one wants to play with you.
samhw 5y ago
I would say performance is a (more or less) necessary but not sufficient condition. We've all heard of cases where managers promote useless schmoozers, but my sense is that performance is still very very useful for being someone your manager cares about. If only because it more easily allows them to justify their patronage to their manager.
tomrod 5y ago
> Let me tell you, as one of the highest performing team members in every organization I’ve been at: if a manager doesn’t care about you, no amount of performance will help you. It didn’t help me. I agree with the other comment that performance is a necessary but not sufficient condition. You build your own brand. A good manager helps with that. A poor manager takes the credit and you aren't acknowledged.
hackerfromthefu 5y ago
Generally fair advice, but the premise isn't always true. I've had the funny situation for the last few years of my manager, being the CEO, doesn't like me personally. Most of my managers have, and the issue kind of come down to a culture clash where he's a salesperson and I'm an engineer, and I wouldn't put up with a habit of his of not paying his invoices on time which he's thankfully grown out of. However he's seen that I deliver at the highest level, and he so he pragmatically keeps sending me projects so he can take his clip (it's a consultancy). This has continued for well over two years and even reached a steady state where I'm pretty sure it could be ongoing if I wanted, however the cost is he's pretty mercenary about it all and has consistently given me rescue projects others have left half finished. So I basically agree with what you're saying, I think it's true generally. However reality is very complex with lots of individual situations that are out of ordinary.
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ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago

Well, for one thing, it means that you have no problem hanging your own shingle. This is useful, for example, if you are an older fellow, and no one wants to play with you.

samhw 5y ago

I would say performance is a (more or less) necessary but not sufficient condition. We've all heard of cases where managers promote useless schmoozers, but my sense is that performance is still very very useful for being someone your manager cares about. If only because it more easily allows them to justify their patronage to their manager.

tomrod 5y ago

> Let me tell you, as one of the highest performing team members in every organization I’ve been at: if a manager doesn’t care about you, no amount of performance will help you. It didn’t help me. I agree with the other comment that performance is a necessary but not sufficient condition. You build your own brand. A good manager helps with that. A poor manager takes the credit and you aren't acknowledged.

hackerfromthefu 5y ago

Generally fair advice, but the premise isn't always true. I've had the funny situation for the last few years of my manager, being the CEO, doesn't like me personally. Most of my managers have, and the issue kind of come down to a culture clash where he's a salesperson and I'm an engineer, and I wouldn't put up with a habit of his of not paying his invoices on time which he's thankfully grown out of. However he's seen that I deliver at the highest level, and he so he pragmatically keeps sending me projects so he can take his clip (it's a consultancy). This has continued for well over two years and even reached a steady state where I'm pretty sure it could be ongoing if I wanted, however the cost is he's pretty mercenary about it all and has consistently given me rescue projects others have left half finished. So I basically agree with what you're saying, I think it's true generally. However reality is very complex with lots of individual situations that are out of ordinary.

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