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I've watched a really elite group of engineers fall apart slowly because one leader decided to start committing systematic fraud and coaching his delegates to c
by hiddencost 4y ago
I've watched a really elite group of engineers fall apart slowly because one leader decided to start committing systematic fraud and coaching his delegates to commit fraud.
It's well done, because it's almost impossible to prove.
Those of us who still care about system health and helping users just wait two years after they launch something, ask leadership for permission to delete it, and keep trying to build abstractions that reduce the harm misconduct has on our parts of the system.
The problem is they keep getting promoted because no one notices that almost nothing they've built is still in production.
A few of us have tried raising the issue to leadership but no one in leadership wants to know. It's a bit spooky. My current theory is that no one has the power to deal with it anymore, and at higher levels, launching garbage features that get deleted is actually desirable.
Theory: senior leadership keeps saying "drop what you're doing and build X". This group does that, but in a way that's half baked enough that we can kill it later. Middle management benefits because senior leadership is happy, and deleting it is fine because leadership forgot about it.
I wish I knew a way out.
- mansoon 4y agoLeetcode
- neilv 4y agoLeetcode, meaning here to switch jobs? A little ironic, because Leetcode interviews arguably send the message that the org is about nonsense hoop-jumping and politics.
- zeroonetwothree 4y agoLeetcode seems like the opposite of politics at least. Hoop jumping sure.
- sidlls 4y agoIt's a signal of politics, too: at companies where the people who view that kind of hoop jumping as an important signal got their way, it means they won that political battle.
- sebzim4500 4y agoI don't get what you mean. Couldn't you equally claim that in companies that avoid leetcode interviews the anti-leetcode people won that political battle. I don't see why one option is more political than the other.
- sidlls 4y agoYou're right, of course: the politics works both ways here.
- gymbeaux 4y agoI’m sure the topic of leetcode has been beaten to death on a forum such as this, but serious question: with ChatGPT, why WOULDNT I cheat, assuming the leetcode is the unmonitored/unproctored variety (most are this way)? Like seriously. We know the leetcode skill isn’t applicable to the actual duties and responsibilities of the job itself, so why not cheat, especially when ChatGPT makes it so easy?
- raincom 4y agoIf organizational goals are centered about building X with half-baked features and then kill it after the perf review cycle, it is rational for everyone to focus on that. Stop wasting time on fixing tech debt. There is always a main product that pays all salaries and bonuses. As organization gets larger, fiefdoms get built by hiring more people. Just understand what’s going on and use that “knowledge” to advance careers and to make more money.