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Ask HN: How do you speak about people who have left the company?
A strong contributor recently left our team and I was pleasantly surprised by the appreciation the team lead had for their work and how they took a moment to mention the individuals contributions even though they weren’t present.
In contrast, in a startup that I worked at, the team lead would make it a point to trivialize anything the person who left had worked on even if they were an exceptionally strong contributor.
Just curious what everyone’s experience is
- bell-cot 4y agoIn general, you want to work with & for the first sort of person (objectively recognizing contributions). Not the second (which suggests an immature worldview and narrow tribalism).
- CM30 4y agoFrom my experience, most places have appreciated the work ex employees have done in the past, and have tended not to downplay their contributions. And that's how I speak about them too. Don't have anything bad to say about any previous colleagues.
- brudgers 4y agoHaving grown up among assholes, I spent many years being surprised when people were kind. Age has made me a fan of the no-asshole rule.
- smsm42 4y ago> the team lead would make it a point to trivialize anything the person who left had worked on That guy ^ is a jerk. Also, you have to consider that in many areas, a lot of people know each other and talk to each other. So it's both morally and practically wrong to downplay somebody's work. And really, there's no reason to - one has to be a completely insecure ass to consider somebody else doing a good job being some kind of a threat to them. I'd say if anything, err on the side of more praise and recognition - after all, what the worst that could happen? They won't get promoted instead of you - they already left anyway! And if people see that you are willing to give credit when the credit is due - both your credit and your complaints, if it becomes necessary, will be take seriously.