Notes
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Nobody ever gets credit for fixing problems that never happened
Jun. 12
Thus, today’s managers face a paradox. […] The ability to identify and learn about new improvement methods no longer presents a significant barrier to most managers. Instead, successfully implementing these innovations presents the biggest challenge.
[Y]ou can’t buy a turnkey six-sigma quality program. It must be developed from within.
HN:
The tragedy is that “nothing broke” looks like “nothing was done” to people far enough away from the system.
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Doing nothing is good, actually
Jun. 10
There are no points for effort in software development. What matters is solving the right problem at the right time.
お人好し
[B]eing too helpful leaves you vulnerable to predators. Tech companies are full of people who want to extract uncompensated work from software engineers. This is different from work that arrives via normal channels, and for which you’re compensated by promotions, bonuses (and just your normal salary). I’m talking about work that arrives via backchannels, from people who don’t have the ability or willingness to ensure that work is formally recorded under your name.
責任の境界線
[E]ngineers should generally avoid glue work. Most glue work […] reflects the fact that the organization is not explicitly prioritizing this work. If they were, you wouldn’t need to volunteer for it. Either that’s fine, or it’s a big mistake. If it’s fine, then you shouldn’t step up and do it: you’ll be wasting your time and annoying your manager. If it’s a big mistake, you still shouldn’t do it, because you’ll be insulating the company from the consequences of its own mistakes at the cost of your own career and mental well-being.