I read that as “cylindrical” lmao
Well that’s true too. As humans we should generally aim to be more cylindrical than spherical.
It’s a cynical way to view the C-staff of a company. I think it’s also inaccurate: from my limited experience, the people who run large tech companies really do want to deliver good software to users.
From my much broader experience, this is missing the required cynicism that C-staff want to deliver software they think is good based on the criteria cynical yes staff tell them constantly is good. I’ve never met an exec that didn’t want to deliver something good; most execs I’ve met don’t actually understand what good is or how to benefit people.
The way the tech world has unfolded in the last 25 years is bound to make most people cynical.
Counterpoint : Fuck big tech. Fuck startups. Start a software co-op and make something actually useful, instead of yet another middle-man leech like Uber and Netflix.
Software co-ops are often indistinguishable from startups in the US. Without money they don’t matter and getting money turns you into a shitshow or requires full-time staff fighting for grants and other forms of not blood money. Maybe this is easier outside the US.
Fuck big tech tho
There’s nothing inherently wrong with either Uber or Netflix. They are, in theory, good services that people find useful. Greed and capitalism are what ruin it.
I’d much rather be able to request a driver through an app with a pre arranged price, than call for a cab which uses an an easily exploitable system that is often use to rip off people (especially people from outside the area). The only problem is that the driver’s get paid like crap.
And streaming is obviously superior to TV
“Companies are structurally set up to collude on salaries, but they’re not set up to deliberately make their employees sad - they just don’t have that kind of fine-grained control over the culture!”
This is such an insane take. I’d argue that hiring freezes are more common dictates than corporations following the law.
I don’t think engineers need encouragement to be cynical. More often engineers need to lighten up.
I just want them to stop acting like egotistical know-it-all jerks all the time. They love to speak in black-and-white absolutes and IMO it just shows how much they really don’t know.
I think Dunning-Kruger also applies to smart people… you don’t stop when you are estimating your ability correctly. As you learn more, you gain more awareness of your ignorance and continue being conservative with your self estimates.
Sounds like your company needs to add educational programs so they can see the bigger picture. The opposite is also true. Plenty of managers whether project or people don’t know anything technical and create more issues than would ever be acceptable for someone way below their pay grade would afforded.
Sorry but I have no idea what you’re talking about… and I wasn’t referring to any specific company
That’s basically his point
Cynical writing is like most medicines: the dose makes the poison. A healthy amount of cynicism can serve as an inoculation from being overly cynical.
Ok tell me when to stop being cynical so I can be optimally not cynical
Politics has no place in engineering disciplines. Imagine if we talked about building bridges like this. “Sorry your entire family died when the bridge failed. My boss has an ego and we have to use the shitty bolts he designed. I’m just doing my job”
Granted not all projects carry this degree of risk but we shouldn’t normalize sub standard practice. Long term risk is generated by bad code which can be and often is detrimental to the profitablity of a project. One of your jobs as a software developer is to be able to communicate this effectively with management. There are cost implications to churning out shitty code.
Bad form > poor product > unsatisfied users > loss in sales to competitors
Speaking up against the manager is politics though.
IMO, telling the manager of their mistake is not politics.
Colluding with others to make said manager lose standing in front of their superior, is politics.As is almost all the case when people say they don’t want “politics” in things. Politics just means whatever they don’t like/find valuable.
Politics is about influencing other people. Engineering is about managing constraints. Sometimes these constraints come from other people. If you want to influence a constraint you don’t like, then you often have to influence other people (i.e. politics).
I don’t see anything strange with this.
I think you are pretty much agreeing with my message.
Yes, I’m just elaborating.
Politics is about influencing other people
No and you prove the parent post right. Politics is the matter of the city (or in this case, the matters of the company/office).
Influencing people is a side product of having to reach an agreement between parties, and if you successfully influence the right people, more shit gets done.
Should we though?
