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*In my experience, projects almost always ship because one single person makes them ship. To be clear, that person doesn’t write all the code or do all the work

by ozim 2y ago

*In my experience, projects almost always ship because one single person makes them ship. To be clear, that person doesn’t write all the code or do all the work, and I’m not saying the project could ship without an entire team behind it. But it’s really important that one person on the project has an end-to-end understanding of the whole thing: how it hangs together technically, and what product or business purpose it serves.* Yes that is pretty much what I see as well, I see how things go to nothing with wrong people who think they can make bunch of requirements and dump them on dev/qa - then be surprised nothing works - and also how much stuff I try to hand over ends up not happening despite people claiming that they are very motivated to pick up a project. If they are motivated and I see nothing happens in 3 weeks I just take it over again and don't even talk to the guy anymore. I am also quite often seen as an asshole because I don't ask "everyone" for permission and mostly care about my actual boss.

123sereusername 2y ago
[dead]
DrBazza 2y ago
The "one single person", should be qualified with 'is senior enough or with enough authority' which allows them to set aside a lot of squabbling, bureaucracy and bikeshedding.
vasco 2y ago
> If they are motivated and I see nothing happens in 3 weeks I just take it over again and don't even talk to the guy anymore. I like this sort of no bullshit attitude but at least tell the guy "I'm taking this back". Hard for your boss to have your back if you don't even say anything.
- ozim 2y ago
  I actually meant "I am never talking with him about handing anything over" and "I am not going to ask 10x if there was no visible progress after they were swearing to pick it up" but other than that I will update the person that I am picking up tasks on my own and making progress on the thing they were "taking over".
2-3-7-43-1807 2y ago
> I am also quite often seen as an asshole because ... or ... you really are in fact (acting like) an asshole. speaking from own experience.
- pc86 2y ago
  I physically cringe when I think of some of the things I said to my coworkers when I was fresh out school and definitely knew what I was doing and had a much better way of doing things and they just didn't understand. I do think it's sort of a rite of passage, especially for the dorky socially awkward kids like I was who all of a sudden have a real job and don't really know how to interact with people.
  - kridsdale1 2y ago
    A lot of us were that. And now that we’re senior we have to recognize it in the youth and guide them to maturity instead of firing them, as our seniors did for us.
    - 2-3-7-43-1807 2y ago
      there's no reason to believe you're now relatively wiser compared to 10 years ago than 10 years ago compared to 20 years ago :/ which is why in another 10 years you'll probably think how stupid it was to believe you can guide a young asshole and should instead have just fired them. just speculating.
      - FaceValuable 2y ago
        Oh the irony #remindus 10y
      - pc86 2y ago
        If you're not relatively wiser than you were 10 years ago, what the hell have you been doing the last 10 years? I don't think you should automatically give younger folks a pass for stuff like this (I don't think the GP was suggesting that, either) but it's also probably a good idea to approach working with a 22 year old a bit differently than you would someone in their 30s, and both differently than you would someone in their 60s.
pc86 2y ago
> I am also quite often seen as an asshole because I don't ask "everyone" for permission and mostly care about my actual boss. This speaks to me, I have often been told that I'm supposed to get "permission" to launch something from product, from my boss's peers leading other teams, from customer support, from design, from pretty much everyone. When pressed, there's never a realistic justification as to why (for example) a designer who hasn't touched the work in months should be in a position to approve a launch.
- kridsdale1 2y ago
  At Google, this months later permission step from everyone is a built in step in the launch process and mandatory. Takes forever.
giancarlostoro 2y ago
Whenever an architect leaves a company I work at, it is definitely felt. If your projects aren't silos then you need someone to glue everything together. You wont ship the same, and you will likely make more mistakes and everyone on call stands around confused, because nobody is there to provide technical guidance because everyone's trying to figure out how their own islands talk to yours.
j45 2y ago
This sentence is a good one for those who often are that person and wonder if there might be others like them out there.

by ozim 2y ago

123sereusername 2y ago

[dead]

DrBazza 2y ago

The "one single person", should be qualified with 'is senior enough or with enough authority' which allows them to set aside a lot of squabbling, bureaucracy and bikeshedding.

vasco 2y ago

> If they are motivated and I see nothing happens in 3 weeks I just take it over again and don't even talk to the guy anymore. I like this sort of no bullshit attitude but at least tell the guy "I'm taking this back". Hard for your boss to have your back if you don't even say anything.

ozim 2y ago
I actually meant "I am never talking with him about handing anything over" and "I am not going to ask 10x if there was no visible progress after they were swearing to pick it up" but other than that I will update the person that I am picking up tasks on my own and making progress on the thing they were "taking over".

2-3-7-43-1807 2y ago

> I am also quite often seen as an asshole because ... or ... you really are in fact (acting like) an asshole. speaking from own experience.

pc86 2y ago
I physically cringe when I think of some of the things I said to my coworkers when I was fresh out school and definitely knew what I was doing and had a much better way of doing things and they just didn't understand. I do think it's sort of a rite of passage, especially for the dorky socially awkward kids like I was who all of a sudden have a real job and don't really know how to interact with people.
- kridsdale1 2y ago
  A lot of us were that. And now that we’re senior we have to recognize it in the youth and guide them to maturity instead of firing them, as our seniors did for us.
  - 2-3-7-43-1807 2y ago
    there's no reason to believe you're now relatively wiser compared to 10 years ago than 10 years ago compared to 20 years ago :/ which is why in another 10 years you'll probably think how stupid it was to believe you can guide a young asshole and should instead have just fired them. just speculating.
    - FaceValuable 2y ago
      Oh the irony #remindus 10y
    - pc86 2y ago
      If you're not relatively wiser than you were 10 years ago, what the hell have you been doing the last 10 years? I don't think you should automatically give younger folks a pass for stuff like this (I don't think the GP was suggesting that, either) but it's also probably a good idea to approach working with a 22 year old a bit differently than you would someone in their 30s, and both differently than you would someone in their 60s.

pc86 2y ago

> I am also quite often seen as an asshole because I don't ask "everyone" for permission and mostly care about my actual boss. This speaks to me, I have often been told that I'm supposed to get "permission" to launch something from product, from my boss's peers leading other teams, from customer support, from design, from pretty much everyone. When pressed, there's never a realistic justification as to why (for example) a designer who hasn't touched the work in months should be in a position to approve a launch.

kridsdale1 2y ago
At Google, this months later permission step from everyone is a built in step in the launch process and mandatory. Takes forever.

giancarlostoro 2y ago

Whenever an architect leaves a company I work at, it is definitely felt. If your projects aren't silos then you need someone to glue everything together. You wont ship the same, and you will likely make more mistakes and everyone on call stands around confused, because nobody is there to provide technical guidance because everyone's trying to figure out how their own islands talk to yours.

j45 2y ago

This sentence is a good one for those who often are that person and wonder if there might be others like them out there.