Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by josephg on Sunday June 06, 2021 @07:00PM
(#27417146)
Yeah, I’ve also gotten a lot of mileage in the last few years using the emotional version of this. Instead of listening to a proposal and saying “well that obviously won’t perform fast enough” I’ve started saying things like “I love this but I feel nervous that it might be slow once you have it working”. The difference is subtle but important, because I’m being clear I want them to help me dissolve my fear about the performance issues. We’re on the same team in a way we aren’t if I make it confrontational.
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Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by monsieurbanana on Monday June 07, 2021 @02:34AM
(#27419660)
I've been doing something quite similar. But sometimes I just get ignored, taking my "I love this but I'm nervous that" as "I love this".
Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by josephg on Monday June 07, 2021 @03:07AM
(#27419864)
I think about it like you have a volume dial that you need to turn up or down depending on the room you're speaking in.
If you're pretty junior, or you work with a lot of loudmouths, you might need to turn the volume up higher to make sure you're listened to. If you're senior, or talking to a group of people more junior than you, you can get away with being a lot softer with your words. (And you often should, to avoid intimidating the juniors). And its not really about volume. Its about your word choice.
Low volume: "Hm, that sounds ok but I'm worried about performance."
High volume: "This will be unworkable because of performance problems. We need preliminary benchmarks, or a plan for solving those problems before we can move ahead."
Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by collyw on Monday June 07, 2021 @06:59AM
(#27421125)
Maybe.
At the same time I think most senior developers have been through the hype cycle a few times.
Junior to intermediate level devs seem to jump on the latest "silver bullet" trend quite a lot not realising that this happens all the time and probably isn't anywhere near as good as the hype.
Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by blacktriangle on Monday June 07, 2021 @08:29AM
(#27421758)
I miss working with adults who know not to take the first version personally. To me the difference is not so subtle, the first version is an engineering conversation, the second one is somebody who is clearly pandering.
Re:An incomplete list of skills senior engineers need, beyon...
by aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA on Sunday June 06, 2021 @08:36PM
(#27417729)
Oh, that’s good.