Comments on: Skating at Work http://www.errantdreams.com/ardor/2006/07/15/skating-at-work/ "Science is the study of what is. Engineering builds what will be." -- Theodore von Karman Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:37:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Patrick http://www.errantdreams.com/ardor/2006/07/15/skating-at-work/#comment-19 Patrick Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:22:35 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/ardor/2006/07/15/skating-at-work/#comment-19 An excellent article. The pattern format seems good for capturing this kind of behavior. You maintain good neutrality, and have good general patterns. It's painful like reading Dilbert is sometimes painful, because it's true. I sense a bestselling book for code monkeys turned management in your future. Might I suggest one I run into daily: Name: Time to hit the books Context: You are asked to fix something, and you put it off, suggesting you need help doing research on the issue. Problem: You can't fix the problem, so you tie up others in helping you research the issue. Solution: Suggest that the person who brought up the issue didn't understand the problem fully, that somehow the issue is not related to your area of expertise, or that the suggested solution is irrelevant. Finish with a suggestion that sitting down with others (hopefully several busy people) and walking through the problem step-by-step will be fruitful. This should delay any real resolution long enough to escape responsibility. Remedy: Perhaps the explanation of the original problem is unclear or incomplete. Further education of the individual regarding the system, local conventions, or even debugging skills may be necessary. The goal would be to educate the individual to the point that they can deduce the cause of problems on their own. I probably have more. This is a very skating friendly workplace. An excellent article. The pattern format seems good for capturing this kind of behavior. You maintain good neutrality, and have good general patterns. It’s painful like reading Dilbert is sometimes painful, because it’s true. I sense a bestselling book for code monkeys turned management in your future.

Might I suggest one I run into daily:

Name: Time to hit the books

Context: You are asked to fix something, and you put it off, suggesting you need help doing research on the issue.

Problem: You can’t fix the problem, so you tie up others in helping you research the issue.

Solution: Suggest that the person who brought up the issue didn’t understand the problem fully, that somehow the issue is not related to your area of expertise, or that the suggested solution is irrelevant. Finish with a suggestion that sitting down with others (hopefully several busy people) and walking through the problem step-by-step will be fruitful. This should delay any real resolution long enough to escape responsibility.

Remedy: Perhaps the explanation of the original problem is unclear or incomplete. Further education of the individual regarding the system, local conventions, or even debugging skills may be necessary. The goal would be to educate the individual to the point that they can deduce the cause of problems on their own.

I probably have more. This is a very skating friendly workplace.

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