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Tangent: many in IT and engineering don't work on soft skills. I hope this shows it's not that hard.

by yowayb 2y ago

tbrownaw 2y ago
I am unclear on how exactly this is meant to show that.
sublinear 2y ago
Engineers are not hired to play office politics or drag out problems in endless meetings until they give up and pretend they don't exist. They're hired to get things done and that usually requires stating things in clear and certain terms. If this seems hostile, that's on leadership. Those who want "soft skills" from their engineers are often looking to place blame. It's easier to blame the engineer who didn't raise concern when things were going off the rails.
- tbrownaw 2y ago
  > Those who want "soft skills" from their engineers are often looking to place blame. It's easier to blame the engineer who didn't raise concern when things were going off the rails. That is not what "soft skills" means. Suppose your boss asks for something on an impossible timeline. Do you: - say yes, and work overtime to get it done (without saying that's what you're doing) - say no - say yes, and demand extra recognition for being an hero - insult your boss's upbringing and intelligence - suggest a more realistic timeline - say what you can get done by the given timeline
  - sublinear 2y ago
    You're impossibly lost on this. The actual only reasonable option is typically that your organization has unfortunately stacked the deck with morons and it's impossibly (to the rest of your org) transaparent to the rest of us (yet we know... cause we're not 'tarded). You have to go to bat for us. Good luck. :) Welcome to middle management and god only knows how you got there! :) ... we know tho. good luck again :) I'll throw you a bone. The only actual solution is to find a place to work that isn't hostile to devs and has made commitments towards technical comptetency in who they hire. Promoting from within and all that. If they don't then prepare to be fired long before that incompetent underling is. After all they produce results and will document it, while you cannot.
    - amenhotep 2y ago
      Yes, this is a good example of being very bad at soft skills.

Tangent: many in IT and engineering don't work on soft skills. I hope this shows it's not that hard.

by yowayb 2y ago

Tangent: many in IT and engineering don't work on soft skills. I hope this shows it's not that hard.

tbrownaw 2y ago

I am unclear on how exactly this is meant to show that.

sublinear 2y ago

Engineers are not hired to play office politics or drag out problems in endless meetings until they give up and pretend they don't exist. They're hired to get things done and that usually requires stating things in clear and certain terms. If this seems hostile, that's on leadership. Those who want "soft skills" from their engineers are often looking to place blame. It's easier to blame the engineer who didn't raise concern when things were going off the rails.

tbrownaw 2y ago
> Those who want "soft skills" from their engineers are often looking to place blame. It's easier to blame the engineer who didn't raise concern when things were going off the rails. That is not what "soft skills" means. Suppose your boss asks for something on an impossible timeline. Do you: - say yes, and work overtime to get it done (without saying that's what you're doing) - say no - say yes, and demand extra recognition for being an hero - insult your boss's upbringing and intelligence - suggest a more realistic timeline - say what you can get done by the given timeline
- sublinear 2y ago
  You're impossibly lost on this. The actual only reasonable option is typically that your organization has unfortunately stacked the deck with morons and it's impossibly (to the rest of your org) transaparent to the rest of us (yet we know... cause we're not 'tarded). You have to go to bat for us. Good luck. :) Welcome to middle management and god only knows how you got there! :) ... we know tho. good luck again :) I'll throw you a bone. The only actual solution is to find a place to work that isn't hostile to devs and has made commitments towards technical comptetency in who they hire. Promoting from within and all that. If they don't then prepare to be fired long before that incompetent underling is. After all they produce results and will document it, while you cannot.
  - amenhotep 2y ago
    Yes, this is a good example of being very bad at soft skills.