For the company it would probably pay off better (over time) to let the people who regularly get stuck after trying nothing spend some energy figuring out than what they get in return for shipping them to conferences.
Additionally, when it’s not your domain knowledge, research is more difficult and time consuming. It can be difficult to even know where to begin. Someone new to media production, for instance, wouldn’t know the major forums to check off hand. Someone had to tell me about dvxuser, reduser, cinema5d, etc.
We learn through a combination of our own effort efforts and the help of others. Otherwise why would we even have school?
Love it, thank you!
Thanks for reminding me of lmgtfy. We used to say that all the time 20 years ago, and it was way politer than how the people older than us spoke. It took some getting used to, but I really miss the hilariously mean bluntness of the IT/tech world.
In retrospect, I think it was just a bunch of people who grew up breathing in leaded gas fumes, with undiagnosed mental disorders. But I miss it just the same.
That was never an acceptable thing to do outside of light hearted joking. You’d do that to a colleague or someone asking for help in earnest?
It’s a deliberate, rude act that is aggressively proclaiming “how dare you waste my time.“ God help you if you ever ask a question you could’ve looked up yourself, because of course you never do that right? You always make sure to engage in rigorous scholarly research before daring to bother somebody.
I almost just said it was like working with The Sopranos or Dr House, but now that I think about it maybe that's because I was in Jersey?
How on earth are you using an absurd work of fiction as a good thing and then justifying treating people like shit at work? People don’t want to be cursed and yelled at and personally insulted at work and they shouldn’t have to deal with that.
As I think about it, I guess I really just miss people being more authentic. There was a lot more understanding and forgiveness around unmedicated emotional outbursts. Modern work culture is more polite on the surface, but it feels like everyone is a cut throat politician manipulating their way to the top with a dumb fake smile. I would much rather work with someone who is upfront about their plans and how they're feeling, than someone who is friendly to my face while talking shit behind my back.
I do kinda feel bad for the kids that are entering the workforce, expected to act like emotionless robots, while spending most of their time talking to AI. There is an underlying sense of fear that they have to mask themselves to not be fired.
But yes, it is an overall improvement. I did have one truly abusive boss that was able to hide unchecked within that culture, and I would not wish that experience on anyone. The rest were just normal people that were emotional and funny.
I understand what you’re saying, it is fun to kind of have a little bit more of an honest, “in the trenches” culture. I miss that from time to time from my work on film sets. But I can also say that the lows professionally were far lower as a result, as those blurry boundaries can cause much more friction and even harm people. So I just have a kind of a strong opinion on that
A frequent first question when a subordinate asks me for help:
“What have you found so far, searching for answers?”
If your question shows that you haven't done basic research, because your question would be answered by the most basic of research (like reading that entry in the manual), then you're wasting my time with your laziness. That might be regarded as deserving a bit of rudeness in the answer. (The exception is with someone who is so new that they don't even realize that there is a manual, but that should be very rare.)
I mean, hopefully I've grown up a bit, and grown more patient a bit, but I still understand why people reply that way.
You added this to the conversation. That was not the original discussion.
Also you and I both have absolutely asked people questions we could have looked up but we knew they likely knew offhand. I don’t understand why some of you think your time is so precious that’s every single question ever asked of you must meet some minimum, arbitrary bar you’ve set internally before you deign to come down from the mountain and bestow knowledge upon your friends and family.
Do you actually say that to people?
Edit: i’ve hit the comment limit per given time, but all I have to say is “what have you found so far?” And “Google it yourself” are radically different responses man. The former is far more reasonable, it shows you are willing to be helpful and is a productive question. The other is just rude and implies your time is too valuable as well as assumes they’ve done nothing to tackle the problem. If you actually say “Google it yourself” when people ask you a question that would be absolutely bizarre behavior.