Demotivating geeks
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The Top Ten ways[^]. Number 3 is particularly relevant for me :^)
[Y]ou should never, ever, ever lie to them. Geeks spend the grand majority of their time dealing with factual data that is constrained by logic. They are also likely to be able to follow logic through multiple complex stages. If you do decide to lie to a geek, don’t ever go back on your statements, and don’t try to layer more lies on top. Geeks will be able to reason their way through your nonsense, and being naturally cynical, they will start to disbelieve everything you say.
Any time a marketing drone or BA has tried to bullshit me, I can't help myself and just punch holes in their "arguments" faster than you can say "swiss cheese". I learnt a long time ago that they tend to hate you for it rather than bowing down before your superior reasoning skills but I still do it :laugh: It's fun ;P
0 bottles of beer on the wall, 0 bottles of beer, you take 1 down, pass it around, 4294967295 bottles of beer on the wall. Awasu 2.2.3 [^]: A free RSS/Atom feed reader with support for Code Project.
#9 is very relevant for me. At the company I work at you have to be a manager to be listened to by other managers. In a meeting I was attending as the "technical expert", the managers were discussing how to fix a problem (Ironic since I was the only technical person in the room). In response to the phrase "What do we do?" I told them how to fix the problem. They barly looked at me. My boss repeated, almost word for word, what I said and it was the greatest thing any of the other managers had ever heard. I now refuse to go to meetings as the "technical expert".
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#9 is very relevant for me. At the company I work at you have to be a manager to be listened to by other managers. In a meeting I was attending as the "technical expert", the managers were discussing how to fix a problem (Ironic since I was the only technical person in the room). In response to the phrase "What do we do?" I told them how to fix the problem. They barly looked at me. My boss repeated, almost word for word, what I said and it was the greatest thing any of the other managers had ever heard. I now refuse to go to meetings as the "technical expert".
The possibility exists that you might have been heard if you knew how to speak their language.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
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The Top Ten ways[^]. Number 3 is particularly relevant for me :^)
[Y]ou should never, ever, ever lie to them. Geeks spend the grand majority of their time dealing with factual data that is constrained by logic. They are also likely to be able to follow logic through multiple complex stages. If you do decide to lie to a geek, don’t ever go back on your statements, and don’t try to layer more lies on top. Geeks will be able to reason their way through your nonsense, and being naturally cynical, they will start to disbelieve everything you say.
Any time a marketing drone or BA has tried to bullshit me, I can't help myself and just punch holes in their "arguments" faster than you can say "swiss cheese". I learnt a long time ago that they tend to hate you for it rather than bowing down before your superior reasoning skills but I still do it :laugh: It's fun ;P
0 bottles of beer on the wall, 0 bottles of beer, you take 1 down, pass it around, 4294967295 bottles of beer on the wall. Awasu 2.2.3 [^]: A free RSS/Atom feed reader with support for Code Project.
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I voted 5, to make up for you :)
Some of us walk the memory lane, others plummet into a rabbit hole
Tree in C# || Fold With Us! || sighist -
The Top Ten ways[^]. Number 3 is particularly relevant for me :^)
[Y]ou should never, ever, ever lie to them. Geeks spend the grand majority of their time dealing with factual data that is constrained by logic. They are also likely to be able to follow logic through multiple complex stages. If you do decide to lie to a geek, don’t ever go back on your statements, and don’t try to layer more lies on top. Geeks will be able to reason their way through your nonsense, and being naturally cynical, they will start to disbelieve everything you say.
Any time a marketing drone or BA has tried to bullshit me, I can't help myself and just punch holes in their "arguments" faster than you can say "swiss cheese". I learnt a long time ago that they tend to hate you for it rather than bowing down before your superior reasoning skills but I still do it :laugh: It's fun ;P
0 bottles of beer on the wall, 0 bottles of beer, you take 1 down, pass it around, 4294967295 bottles of beer on the wall. Awasu 2.2.3 [^]: A free RSS/Atom feed reader with support for Code Project.
7 and 9 are the ones that hit closest to home. In fact, today I'm working on fixing errors on a system that should never have seen the light of day. :sigh:
225 years ago, we set an example for the rest of the world by creating a country where everyone could vote...
Well, except for women and black people, but we fixed that!
-Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows -
The possibility exists that you might have been heard if you knew how to speak their language.
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalStrategyConsulting.com
Christopher Duncan wrote:
The possibility exists that you might have been heard if you knew how to speak their language.
Possibly, except for 2 things. My boss didn't know enough except to say almost exactly the same thing I had said and, as my boss pointed out to me later, the corprate culture is still very much rank based. I'm not the same "rank" as they are, I'm not invited to the same meetings as they are, and I don't have an office with a door or free coffee. My boss listens to me because I've helped him in the past and he know's I'll help him in the future. This company is consistantly behind the times. Corprate inertia doesn't allow much change very easily. It will move into the 90's someday, but until then, it will be a class system.
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7 and 9 are the ones that hit closest to home. In fact, today I'm working on fixing errors on a system that should never have seen the light of day. :sigh:
225 years ago, we set an example for the rest of the world by creating a country where everyone could vote...
Well, except for women and black people, but we fixed that!
-Adam Duritz, of Counting CrowsPerhaps this[^] might help. ;)
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
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Perhaps this[^] might help. ;)
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
Hehehe. That's slick. I want. :)
225 years ago, we set an example for the rest of the world by creating a country where everyone could vote...
Well, except for women and black people, but we fixed that!
-Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows -
Sometimes customers make stupid requests because they don’t understand what they want, or they don’t understand what they’re asking for How amazingly true. :laugh:
I've found a living worth working for, but I haven't found work worth living for. :beer:
:jig:Interestingly enough, my boss did all of the things listed in the Top 10 to De-Motivate, and none of the things in the Top 10 to Motivate. He's now my former boss and left with only one developer - and you can virtually watch the company crumble under his lies and misdirection of both employees and customers.
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in response on how to fix something, anytime almost anyone says the phrase "All you do is..." I know they don't know what they're talking about.
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At the company I work at, we have a way of telling when management is lying to us...they're talking!
LMAO
Pablo www.aes4you.com
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The Top Ten ways[^]. Number 3 is particularly relevant for me :^)
[Y]ou should never, ever, ever lie to them. Geeks spend the grand majority of their time dealing with factual data that is constrained by logic. They are also likely to be able to follow logic through multiple complex stages. If you do decide to lie to a geek, don’t ever go back on your statements, and don’t try to layer more lies on top. Geeks will be able to reason their way through your nonsense, and being naturally cynical, they will start to disbelieve everything you say.
Any time a marketing drone or BA has tried to bullshit me, I can't help myself and just punch holes in their "arguments" faster than you can say "swiss cheese". I learnt a long time ago that they tend to hate you for it rather than bowing down before your superior reasoning skills but I still do it :laugh: It's fun ;P
0 bottles of beer on the wall, 0 bottles of beer, you take 1 down, pass it around, 4294967295 bottles of beer on the wall. Awasu 2.2.3 [^]: A free RSS/Atom feed reader with support for Code Project.
Thanks for everyone's interest in the de-motivation article. I've been surprised how closely it hit home with a lot of people. I may do a follow-up with some other ideas people have given me since I wrote the original piece; if you'd like to contribute suggestions, I'd be happy to credit you. Nate Kohari http://kohari.org/
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I love that site design.
A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the Universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation." -- Stephen Crane
Talking about my site? I stole it too. :) It's a slightly-tweaked version of 3k2.
