‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Doing Everyone Else's Job

215 points · 115 comments · luu

  1. maerF0x0 · · focus · HN ↗
    > and most managers fail to punish at least some of these slow learners of theirs

    False, they punish by not crediting that work as work.

    Glue work, keeping things tidy, dealing with that annoyance that everyone else has been able to get away with suffering through (and ignoring), all of this will be worth approximately 0 at performance review time because your time is a zerosum game that is traded off with highly visible, political, and otherwise rewardable work.

    It's been my experience that in larger companies you generally have to play in the framework.(I'd roughly draw the line at 1000+ employees), at quite small companies (or as a self employed / entrepreneur, roughly <200 employees) you should follow the path of highest EROI on your efforts regardless of who's job it is. In the gap you have to read the culture and management.

    1. esafak · · focus · HN ↗
      If the company does not recognize its importance just LET THE DAMN THING FAIL. That is how management will pay proper attention to it.
      1. jjk166 · · focus · HN ↗
        It can take years for the damn thing to fail even after the key support stops entirely. In that time you and your colleagues will suffer, and the people responsible will jump ship long before the full impact has been felt, learning nothing from the experience and likely blaming it on the person they leave holding the bag. You can try to get a job elsewhere but things which aren't appreciated at one company often times aren't appreciated at most. Doing a good job is often in your personal best interest regardless of what an out of touch middle manager thinks is more important.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.