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Re:How to boss without being bossy by freedomben on Saturday November 11, 2023 @09:53AM (#38230768)
I completely agree. I rejoice in directness.

It's a hard time for people like us to be in tech (particularly startups and small companies), because the culture of extreme passive aggressive is widespread and prevalent. Many people, most people, view direct requests as rudeness or condescension, even though the net result is exactly the same.

The worst part of it to me though, is that it can be hard sometimes to figure out what the person means. If they could just say what they mean, it would be so much easier. But no, instead we have to imply and hint our way to what we want lest we be taken as rude, and this requires the receiver to exercise some part of mind reading. Most of the time it actually works fine, but there are sometimes important and consequential moments when it doesn't work fine and there is miscommunication, sometimes with disastrous results. And completely unnecessary, if the person could have just said what they meant instead of trying to hint it. It doesn't need to be this way people.

Re:How to boss without being bossy by TylerE on Saturday November 11, 2023 @10:03AM (#38230865)
The biggest thing I hate is the attitude that work is something you're supposed to be passionate about. I'm passionate about having a roof over my head, not coding CRUD apps.
Re:How to boss without being bossy by sspiff on Saturday November 11, 2023 @10:47AM (#38231333)
I still love technology, technical challenges and clever hacking. But 95% of real world work is not that. 95% of work is fairly boring plumbing or translating of requirements into something that will make money for the company.

And that's not some terrible thing. Like you said, a job is something you do for money. If it weren't, it would be a hobby.

Having people be passionate about the work they do is a great way to lower the wages and working conditions. Look at gamedev, or other sectors people are passionate about. Because so many people want to build games, they are considered expendable/replaceable and are treated poorly, both in terms of wages, working hours, and other labour conditions. The same thing applies to FAANG companies to some extent - they just "burn up" young talent by motivating them to spend as much time crunching in the office as possible.

Re:How to boss without being bossy by lo_zamoyski on Saturday November 11, 2023 @10:55AM (#38231400)
Legislating another person's emotions is entirely intrusive, invasive, and overbearing, and frankly, psychotic. It would be nice if companies stopped using the word "passionate" in job postings. It's creepy and weird and makes them look like they're not serious about their work.
Re:How to boss without being bossy by FFP999 on Saturday November 11, 2023 @11:42AM (#38231836)
> Legislating another person's emotions is entirely intrusive, invasive, and overbearing, and frankly, psychotic.

...well, that explains its popularity in the corporate world then. rimshot

Re:How to boss without being bossy by troyvit on Monday November 13, 2023 @11:48AM (#38252224)
I've been on both sides of this. Generally I am "passionate" about my work. I spend half my waking time doing it so I better have fun.

I've managed equally passionate teams. All I'd have to say most times is, "We gotta get this done." And somebody would jump up and say they would do it, because they saw the value of learning it, the value to the team, the value to the organization, or all three.

The last two places I have worked (A non-profit and a mission-based Linux company) have been completely different. Almost everybody was passionate only about keeping a roof over their heads (if that). It is a source of constant chuckles that I found more passion in a second tier ad-tech company than I do in mission-driven organizations.

I think companies have earned this though because of exactly what others have said in this thread. Companies have taken advantage of passion so that now. Say what you will about the ad-tech company they did retreats all around the world, gave us interesting swag and threw incredible parties. The mission driven organizations are like "Do it because you belieeeeeve."

[edited to remove nonsense]

Re:How to boss without being bossy by freedomben on Saturday November 11, 2023 @09:55AM (#38230788)
Something I have noticed, is that the degree to which this is true is somewhat regional. If you are on the West Coast, the bar is much higher. If you are on the east coast, things are more sane, but trending in the wrong direction.