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The belief that someone will produce their "best work" in a stress-filled deadline of _one project_ is shortsighted. If by "best work" you mean "maximum extrac
by aspir 13y ago
The belief that someone will produce their "best work" in a stress-filled deadline of _one project_ is shortsighted.
If by "best work" you mean "maximum extraction in a short time frame," you're probably correct. But the belief that someone can truly produce a magnum opus in the truest since within one project, especially a project that driven by a negative taskmaster, is completely ludicrous. Its a myth perpetrated by the taskmasters of this industry. These projects may culminate to their magnum opus, but it's not yours.
- zeteo 13y ago> the belief that someone can truly produce a magnum opus [...] within [...] a project that driven by a negative taskmaster, is completely ludicrous There's a difference between a stressful and an honest environment. If you read some of the classics of engineering literature ("Skunk Works", "Dealers of Lightning" etc.), some of the greatest engineering projects ever created were built with managers who were not afraid to tell people they sucked and could do better. I think, in general, to produce a magnum opus most of us do need an external, unbiased mirror of our performance. It's easy to err on the negative side and discourage people; but erring on the positive side (which is far more common these days) is also a betrayal of that person's true potential.