Like the expression goes: you can lead a horse to water by you can't make it drink. That's the way I feel sometimes. You can do work to help people work and help out with tools, but for some that's just not enough. You have to hand hold, baby sit, monitor. But none of that is really needed if people use common sense and think about what work would be needed for the next person to take over the project.
I've come to grips with not caring how other people work. Not my project, I don't know what issues were going on so who am I to judge. But it still ticks me off when I have to pick up the mess that someone else did and the mess was just because they were too lazy to do it right the first time.
So many issues would go away if people just did the best they know how to at the time. I can't fault anyone for that. Doing it the short cut way usually just ends up being the long cut over time and that makes me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
*sigh*
It reminds me of a quote.
ReplyDeleteWhat we've got here is...failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
You can only do so much to try to help others out. The best way is just to show others by setting a good example, and hope that they get the picture.
My only disagreement with your post is that you state that if people just do the best they know how, that it would get rid of a lot of problems. While it would get rid of a lot of problems. Some people, even when doing their best, do a really terrible job. This is doubly true for software development. I've seen a few people, that no matter how much you work with them, and no matter how many times you show them a better way of doing it, they just keep on producing really bad software.
My point is that you can't *expect* someone to do more than they are capable of. If I go run at the olympics, no one would expect me to get a gold.
ReplyDeleteIf someone is only capable of doing 75% of the quality that you are able, wouldn't you rather they try for 75% rather than 30%?
That's the reason they have qualifying events for the olympics. So that people who don't peform well enough don't end up competing. Obviously not everybody has to be the as good as everybody else, but everybody has to meet some minimum standards. It's ok if one guy is 75%, while others are 90%. But you have to be able to weed out the guys who are only 50%, or below. Also, the problem is, is that you assume that people can do better. And while sometimes they can, and if given the right incentives and proper working environment, some people can turn it up a notch or two, there's a lot of people who just aren't willing to do it. And for them, their 30%, because for whatever reason they don't care to do a better job is their 100%. You can't make somebody do a good job.
ReplyDeleteThat's why there are qualifying events for jobs. They are called interviews and probation periods.
ReplyDeleteAfter that if someone "sneaks in", there are options then too: you get rid of them or isolate them so the damage they do is minimized.
I'm not even talking about getting people to "turn it up a notch or two". I'm just expecting them to do a reasonable job for what they are paid for.
What it sounds like is if I was hired by you, I could just come in and dick around all day and you'd be like "damn... Jim doesn't care about his job... Humm... I guess I'll get someone else to do all the tasks that I assigned him." I'd expect that you'd talk to me and we'd try and resolve the issue. If that's not possible I'd expect that you'd fire me.
Yes, you're right, I do assume that people can do better. It's called learning. I'm sure that everyone will reach a plateau, but when they reach that I expect them to work at that level.
Yeah, I guess it all comes down to how much people apply themselves. If you aren't applying yourself, you should be fired, or put onto project that isn't time sensitive. Not giving an honest effort at your job can have a big effect on the company and the lives of your coworkers. It really annoys me when I see people slacking off. However, what annoys me more, is managers who don't do their job, by letting people who aren't giving their all get away with it.
ReplyDeleteSome of the blame also lies with managers. Some of them expect you to complete tasks in impossible deadlines that may require taking shortcuts. Good for short term, bad for the long term.
ReplyDeleteYou can't judge why a certain solution was developed if you don't know the whole picture.