4 ms·

interesting story but wrong conclusion. this isn't about a management problem but rather a case of an IC taking on too much themselves. had they never attempted

interesting story but wrong conclusion. this isn't about a management problem but rather a case of an IC taking on too much themselves. had they never attempted to do the work of 3-4 people, this general problem would have become apparent much sooner. instead they overworked themselves and put their own role at risk for a sub par rating. do not allow yourself to be overworked for more than a few days at most. it never ends well.

jeffrallen 4y ago
> for more than a few days Yes! But do occasionally fall on a grenade for your team. Pull one 12 hour day to get a deployment plan just right, to check that one last rollback scenario, etc. Plan 8 hours for a bug and then follow it for 24, if the rabbit hole it takes you into is important. Develop the discernment to be able to say "this is where I'm going to overwork one time this quarter". And say it, literally out loud if you need to. You need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, "my boss counts on me" before you can go and tell him the same thing.
- H8crilA 4y ago
  Why though? I don't want to overwork a single day per week/quarter/year. And I have absolutely no fairness problems with that. If it can't be done this week it will be done next week. It's your problem to deal with it, and my problem to make the tech work.
  - jeffrallen 4y ago
    Because knowing something is important to the organization and to you and choosing to do it is not overworking. It is delivering the necessary effort at the right time to end up proud of your work. And with a reasonable boss, there's nothing stopping you from knocking off early the next Friday.
- whitemary 4y ago
  No, thanks.
devwastaken 4y ago
Management does not understand what a "3-4" workload looks like. By their estimate they have the number of devs required, therefore to them it must be the devs that are the problem, not the number of them. It's not as simple as getting more devs, it's justifying another half mil a year in wage costs for that team. The people at the top with the pocket books really don't like that. Is your manager going to risk their neck, bonus, review? No. If the dev doing all the work burns out thats not seen as a fault of management by other management. That dev likely did that work because they don't understand the politics and had a mortgage and a kid in school to pay for. They want to be able to claim their work for the next job interview/resume. "I did less work while the project failed because bad management." is not a selling point.
- flerchin 4y ago
  The Engineer can leave, the project can utterly fail, and only management will be left to take the blame and deal with the consequences.
  - devwastaken 4y ago
    How do you think the interview is going to go for that engineer for their next job?
    - flerchin 4y ago
      It'll go great. Busy people interview well. They just explain the ten different things they did that day.
ahtihn 4y ago
> rather a case of an IC taking on too much themselves Which is a management problem. If management can't see that this is happening and fix it, what are they even doing?
GianFabien 4y ago
Have been in a similar position. I simply pushed back. Did what I reasonably could and well. It wasn't good enough for the managers so they demoted me and hired 3 "yes-men" who as a group accomplished less than I did whilst pushing back. It didn't end well. But no managers were fired. While there are less-competent yes-men out there, the managers will continue to hire those who don't tell them to ...
- anentropic 4y ago
  Seems like a problem of hierarchy Maybe managers should be democratically elected

jeffrallen 4y ago

> for more than a few days Yes! But do occasionally fall on a grenade for your team. Pull one 12 hour day to get a deployment plan just right, to check that one last rollback scenario, etc. Plan 8 hours for a bug and then follow it for 24, if the rabbit hole it takes you into is important. Develop the discernment to be able to say "this is where I'm going to overwork one time this quarter". And say it, literally out loud if you need to. You need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, "my boss counts on me" before you can go and tell him the same thing.

H8crilA 4y ago
Why though? I don't want to overwork a single day per week/quarter/year. And I have absolutely no fairness problems with that. If it can't be done this week it will be done next week. It's your problem to deal with it, and my problem to make the tech work.
- jeffrallen 4y ago
  Because knowing something is important to the organization and to you and choosing to do it is not overworking. It is delivering the necessary effort at the right time to end up proud of your work. And with a reasonable boss, there's nothing stopping you from knocking off early the next Friday.
whitemary 4y ago
No, thanks.

devwastaken 4y ago

Management does not understand what a "3-4" workload looks like. By their estimate they have the number of devs required, therefore to them it must be the devs that are the problem, not the number of them. It's not as simple as getting more devs, it's justifying another half mil a year in wage costs for that team. The people at the top with the pocket books really don't like that. Is your manager going to risk their neck, bonus, review? No. If the dev doing all the work burns out thats not seen as a fault of management by other management. That dev likely did that work because they don't understand the politics and had a mortgage and a kid in school to pay for. They want to be able to claim their work for the next job interview/resume. "I did less work while the project failed because bad management." is not a selling point.

flerchin 4y ago
The Engineer can leave, the project can utterly fail, and only management will be left to take the blame and deal with the consequences.
- devwastaken 4y ago
  How do you think the interview is going to go for that engineer for their next job?
  - flerchin 4y ago
    It'll go great. Busy people interview well. They just explain the ten different things they did that day.

ahtihn 4y ago

> rather a case of an IC taking on too much themselves Which is a management problem. If management can't see that this is happening and fix it, what are they even doing?

GianFabien 4y ago

Have been in a similar position. I simply pushed back. Did what I reasonably could and well. It wasn't good enough for the managers so they demoted me and hired 3 "yes-men" who as a group accomplished less than I did whilst pushing back. It didn't end well. But no managers were fired. While there are less-competent yes-men out there, the managers will continue to hire those who don't tell them to ...

anentropic 4y ago
Seems like a problem of hierarchy Maybe managers should be democratically elected