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The key thing when working with engineers is to give them a problem to solve - but don't tell them how to solve it. As a programmer I relish the challenge of pr
by leepowers 14y ago
The key thing when working with engineers is to give them a problem to solve - but don't tell them how to solve it. As a programmer I relish the challenge of problem solving. But I hate being told how to think.
In this case I was part of a scrum team at a large company. Some product manager/project manager/engineering manager already broke things up into user stories. Those user stories were further broken down into tasks. The tasks were then evenly divided amongst all the engineers. Each engineer didn’t have much of a say in it.
This is definitely a management mistake that I've been on both sides of. Getting everyone involved during with architectural process accomplishes several things: 1) Everyone comes away with a bird's-eye view of the project. 2) Everyone has input into the decision making process. When done properly no one feels out of the loop or under another's direct control.
Some might call this slave work. It was the most unproductive time of my life. I spent an hour at the gym every day. Another hour eating lunch. Several hours surfing the internet. I was really bored sitting under the fluorescent lighting. It felt like a chore to write code.
I can understand this attitude, but only up to a point - as a professional programmer you should be able to handle an assigned problem, figure it out and complete it. Instead of taking a long lunch take a few minutes to talk to your boss and voice your concerns. There's no excuse for half-assing it.
- sherm8n 14y agoI never said I was slacking off. In fact I got more done than anyone else on the team. It just felt like I was there only to work. I openly told everyone how I felt. That's when I decided I didn't want to be a professional programmer anymore. I talked to boss man and we mutually agreed that there was no way for me to be happy being a cog in the wheel.
- greghinch 14y agoYou can be a "professional programmer" without being a "cog in the wheel" so directly. At the end of the day though, we're all cogs in the great machine of society. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can be happy in your work
- sherm8n 14y agoI'm a little delusional. I believe that having the ability to choose what I work on makes me happy. This is why founders like being founders. They don't want to accept things the way they are. They just want to make it better for everyone else.
- capisce 14y agoSo what do you do instead?
- sherm8n 14y agoI'm a broke entrepreneur, like everyone else in SF.
- freework 14y ago"Instead of taking a long lunch take a few minutes to talk to your boss and voice your concerns." That sounds like a great way to get yourself labeled as "not a team player"
- sherm8n 14y agoYou are spot on about this one. If you're playing the politics game you never talk about being unhappy. In 1-1s almost all employees will tell you they're having an awesome. I'v been on both sides of this.