5 ms·

This comment seems dismissive in a very unfair way, but to give you an actual piece of information, it's extremely hard for DevRel to justify its existence in m

This comment seems dismissive in a very unfair way, but to give you an actual piece of information, it's extremely hard for DevRel to justify its existence in most companies. It's a necessary role, and one that can be thoroughly positive for all the parties involved (devs, the product, the company), but managers who are unable to understand intuitively what good DevRel looks like will always try to push for metrics that will inherently destroy any attempt at doing good DevRel. So, well, even if this was something shared to convince a manager (hard doubt on that btw), it would still be vaulable, unless you want a bunch of marketers with IT expertise to speak at events.

latchkey 4y ago
No, it isn't dismissive. "weaponizing hyperfocus" is about as clickbait as it gets. It seems like a rambling blog post without much editing. You're making a few absolute statements but not providing anything to back that up. If the role is necessary, then it would be a lot easier to justify. If it is hard to write a job req for the role, then I'd question the need for a role.
- JeremyBanks 4y ago
  [dead]
- pxc 4y ago
  > "weaponizing hyperfocus" is about as clickbait as it gets How so? What do you understand hyperfocus to be? Are you subject to it?
  - latchkey 4y ago
    Let's just say, a moderator edited the title here on HN...
    - pxc 4y ago
      I saw the original title and I still don't understand why you think it's clickbait. It makes perfect sense to me. One of the attention regulation difficulties with ADHD is a tendency to get sucked down deep rabbit holes, and it can be extremely derailing in terms of productivity, and then consequently for morale. It's difficult to predict and often impossible to control. In Xe's case, they figured out a way to turn the results of those unexpected, unwelcome trips into something of recognized value. Settling into this role likely provides relief from a periodic feeling of helplessness and self-loathing. How is the original title inappropriate? How is it unclear what the article is about or why it matters?
      - latchkey 4y ago
        Personally speaking, I'd remove the word 'weaponizing', it is the unnecessary catchy bit and distracts from the more important ADHD portion of 'hyperfocus'. That said, the rather rambling aspect of the blog post itself doesn't convey hyperfocus at all to me. That said, the way the title is now, seems most appropriate, it is simple and conveys the content of the post. I see that the blog post on the tailscale website is also marked as 'personal'... and I'd argue that a corporate website isn't the appropriate place for a blog post like this. It is the first post marked as such, so maybe it is an experiment to see how it goes. I'm all for that, but this seems like a big miss to me personally.
    - mynameisvlad 4y ago
      After telling you it can get more clickbait-y than that, sure.
  - bityard 4y ago
    I would imagine the criticism is about the "weaponizing" part, if you think about what a weapon is and what it does.
    - pxc 4y ago
      Weapons are used as a metaphor in professional contexts all the time, though. A weapon metaphor is what you're looking at every single time you read the phrase 'hone your skills', for example.
      - latchkey 4y ago
        'hone' means to 'sharpen a blade.' 'sharpen your skills' It doesn't imply, to me, that the sharpened blade should be used as a weapon.
        pxc 4y ago
        That's fair, I suppose. But I still don't see how a weapon-centric interpretation or intention would stand out much against phrases like - attack the problem - circle the wagons - on the warpath - exploit vulnerability - killed that interview - nuke and pave - shot across the bow - shoot yourself in the foot etc., and I don't think those stand out a ton in writing in or about our industry. I dunno. Did 'weaponizing hyperfocus' as the sole title imply malfeasance or discrimination or abuse to you or something like that? I can see getting that kind of a vibe.
        latchkey 4y ago
        Maybe we are talking in circles at this point, but also remember that those are actual phrases with meaning behind them and there is a distinction between that and what amounts to a clickbait title. Again, the word 'weaponized' was not necessary to convey the point at all. If the title was simply: "Hyperfocus: Becoming the first DevRel at Tailscale", it seems less aggressive or clickbaity. At that point, might as well just go with 'less is more' and remove the Hyperfocus part too.
      - deleted 4y ago
- dang 4y ago
  It can get a lot more clickbaity than that! but ok, we can take that bit out of the title above. (Catchy Bit: Factual Description is a standard sort of title and cropping it to just Factual Description is a standard sort of title edit here)

latchkey 4y ago

No, it isn't dismissive. "weaponizing hyperfocus" is about as clickbait as it gets. It seems like a rambling blog post without much editing. You're making a few absolute statements but not providing anything to back that up. If the role is necessary, then it would be a lot easier to justify. If it is hard to write a job req for the role, then I'd question the need for a role.

JeremyBanks 4y ago
[dead]
pxc 4y ago
> "weaponizing hyperfocus" is about as clickbait as it gets How so? What do you understand hyperfocus to be? Are you subject to it?
- latchkey 4y ago
  Let's just say, a moderator edited the title here on HN...
  - pxc 4y ago
    I saw the original title and I still don't understand why you think it's clickbait. It makes perfect sense to me. One of the attention regulation difficulties with ADHD is a tendency to get sucked down deep rabbit holes, and it can be extremely derailing in terms of productivity, and then consequently for morale. It's difficult to predict and often impossible to control. In Xe's case, they figured out a way to turn the results of those unexpected, unwelcome trips into something of recognized value. Settling into this role likely provides relief from a periodic feeling of helplessness and self-loathing. How is the original title inappropriate? How is it unclear what the article is about or why it matters?
    - latchkey 4y ago
      Personally speaking, I'd remove the word 'weaponizing', it is the unnecessary catchy bit and distracts from the more important ADHD portion of 'hyperfocus'. That said, the rather rambling aspect of the blog post itself doesn't convey hyperfocus at all to me. That said, the way the title is now, seems most appropriate, it is simple and conveys the content of the post. I see that the blog post on the tailscale website is also marked as 'personal'... and I'd argue that a corporate website isn't the appropriate place for a blog post like this. It is the first post marked as such, so maybe it is an experiment to see how it goes. I'm all for that, but this seems like a big miss to me personally.
  - mynameisvlad 4y ago
    After telling you it can get more clickbait-y than that, sure.
- bityard 4y ago
  I would imagine the criticism is about the "weaponizing" part, if you think about what a weapon is and what it does.
  - pxc 4y ago
    Weapons are used as a metaphor in professional contexts all the time, though. A weapon metaphor is what you're looking at every single time you read the phrase 'hone your skills', for example.
    - latchkey 4y ago
      'hone' means to 'sharpen a blade.' 'sharpen your skills' It doesn't imply, to me, that the sharpened blade should be used as a weapon.
      - pxc 4y ago
        That's fair, I suppose. But I still don't see how a weapon-centric interpretation or intention would stand out much against phrases like - attack the problem - circle the wagons - on the warpath - exploit vulnerability - killed that interview - nuke and pave - shot across the bow - shoot yourself in the foot etc., and I don't think those stand out a ton in writing in or about our industry. I dunno. Did 'weaponizing hyperfocus' as the sole title imply malfeasance or discrimination or abuse to you or something like that? I can see getting that kind of a vibe.
        latchkey 4y ago
        Maybe we are talking in circles at this point, but also remember that those are actual phrases with meaning behind them and there is a distinction between that and what amounts to a clickbait title. Again, the word 'weaponized' was not necessary to convey the point at all. If the title was simply: "Hyperfocus: Becoming the first DevRel at Tailscale", it seems less aggressive or clickbaity. At that point, might as well just go with 'less is more' and remove the Hyperfocus part too.
    - deleted 4y ago
dang 4y ago
It can get a lot more clickbaity than that! but ok, we can take that bit out of the title above. (Catchy Bit: Factual Description is a standard sort of title and cropping it to just Factual Description is a standard sort of title edit here)