Support 3rd party solution or else
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My VP of eng. told me a couple of weeks ago, the library I have been working on for the last year or so, uses the wrong approach, paradigm, and language ("explosively disruptive", were his words). He then asked me to stop work and "park it" for the time being. Instead, our organization will adopt a third-party library, of worse off quality (although feature rich and complete), for the most part closed-source, and (arguably) free. The SW solution implemented using this library will be used in the manufacturing of a highly sophisticated piece of electronics. The message is clear: I have to give support to this alternative solution, which effectively makes my job obsolete, and if I don`t (or things fail the way I anticipate they will), chances are I will get laid off. It seems like I can`t win: - If the third party library solution works, I have successfully proven that my job is obsolete. - If it fails, I am guilty of negligence, and I have failed, and very likely I will end up jobless in this case too. Do you see any dignifying way out of this conundrum? Start typing my resume? Cheers. ALF
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My VP of eng. told me a couple of weeks ago, the library I have been working on for the last year or so, uses the wrong approach, paradigm, and language ("explosively disruptive", were his words). He then asked me to stop work and "park it" for the time being. Instead, our organization will adopt a third-party library, of worse off quality (although feature rich and complete), for the most part closed-source, and (arguably) free. The SW solution implemented using this library will be used in the manufacturing of a highly sophisticated piece of electronics. The message is clear: I have to give support to this alternative solution, which effectively makes my job obsolete, and if I don`t (or things fail the way I anticipate they will), chances are I will get laid off. It seems like I can`t win: - If the third party library solution works, I have successfully proven that my job is obsolete. - If it fails, I am guilty of negligence, and I have failed, and very likely I will end up jobless in this case too. Do you see any dignifying way out of this conundrum? Start typing my resume? Cheers. ALF
Always keep updating the resume, even when things are going well. All the articles say that you should always be on the lookout for a different job. It's hard to say from an outside vantage point whether your situation is really as black or white as you think it is. Were you hired only to work on that one library? Are you sure there would be no further work if the 3rd party library is adopted? What if you become the resident expert on the alternate library? Wouldn't that make you valuable?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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Always keep updating the resume, even when things are going well. All the articles say that you should always be on the lookout for a different job. It's hard to say from an outside vantage point whether your situation is really as black or white as you think it is. Were you hired only to work on that one library? Are you sure there would be no further work if the 3rd party library is adopted? What if you become the resident expert on the alternate library? Wouldn't that make you valuable?
The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.
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My VP of eng. told me a couple of weeks ago, the library I have been working on for the last year or so, uses the wrong approach, paradigm, and language ("explosively disruptive", were his words). He then asked me to stop work and "park it" for the time being. Instead, our organization will adopt a third-party library, of worse off quality (although feature rich and complete), for the most part closed-source, and (arguably) free. The SW solution implemented using this library will be used in the manufacturing of a highly sophisticated piece of electronics. The message is clear: I have to give support to this alternative solution, which effectively makes my job obsolete, and if I don`t (or things fail the way I anticipate they will), chances are I will get laid off. It seems like I can`t win: - If the third party library solution works, I have successfully proven that my job is obsolete. - If it fails, I am guilty of negligence, and I have failed, and very likely I will end up jobless in this case too. Do you see any dignifying way out of this conundrum? Start typing my resume? Cheers. ALF
Hi, you are in a difficult place, and of course I have no idea what the job market is like in Croatia, or what your options may be. Are you financially in a place where you can quit if you want to ? I also wonder if you are the sole author who created this library you've worked on for the last year, and, if you were, where was the VP of Engineering in the process ? If you were not the sole author, then are there other people who are going to have their careers, or jobs, or reputations, threatened by the decision to call off this effort which must have cost the company some real money ? I have a feeling there's a lot we don't know here, perhaps should not know, and, of course, I respect whatever decisions make to protect your own reputation/privacy, etc. If I were in a place where I was financially secure, felt I had the freedom to quit, and I foresaw an "ugly ending" coming in which I would be blamed for possibly others' mistakes, I would probably quit as soon as I had gotten my resume updated. good luck, Bill
«I'm asked why doesn't C# implement feature X all the time. The answer's always the same: because no one ever designed, specified, implemented, tested, documented, shipped that feature. All six of those things are necessary to make a feature happen. They all cost huge amounts of time, effort and money.» Eric Lippert, Microsoft, 2009
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Hi, you are in a difficult place, and of course I have no idea what the job market is like in Croatia, or what your options may be. Are you financially in a place where you can quit if you want to ? I also wonder if you are the sole author who created this library you've worked on for the last year, and, if you were, where was the VP of Engineering in the process ? If you were not the sole author, then are there other people who are going to have their careers, or jobs, or reputations, threatened by the decision to call off this effort which must have cost the company some real money ? I have a feeling there's a lot we don't know here, perhaps should not know, and, of course, I respect whatever decisions make to protect your own reputation/privacy, etc. If I were in a place where I was financially secure, felt I had the freedom to quit, and I foresaw an "ugly ending" coming in which I would be blamed for possibly others' mistakes, I would probably quit as soon as I had gotten my resume updated. good luck, Bill
«I'm asked why doesn't C# implement feature X all the time. The answer's always the same: because no one ever designed, specified, implemented, tested, documented, shipped that feature. All six of those things are necessary to make a feature happen. They all cost huge amounts of time, effort and money.» Eric Lippert, Microsoft, 2009
Thanks for your reply. Yes, unfortunately, I am the sole author of the library. It was a colossal mistake on my part: I failed to rally support and get other developers enthusiastic about the whole idea. Developers (average ones) don't like risks. Lesson learned. I will probably end up packing-up and leaving, however I am trying to allow myself some prudent time before doing so. I don't want to "go from a old job", but instead I want to "go to a new job".
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My VP of eng. told me a couple of weeks ago, the library I have been working on for the last year or so, uses the wrong approach, paradigm, and language ("explosively disruptive", were his words). He then asked me to stop work and "park it" for the time being. Instead, our organization will adopt a third-party library, of worse off quality (although feature rich and complete), for the most part closed-source, and (arguably) free. The SW solution implemented using this library will be used in the manufacturing of a highly sophisticated piece of electronics. The message is clear: I have to give support to this alternative solution, which effectively makes my job obsolete, and if I don`t (or things fail the way I anticipate they will), chances are I will get laid off. It seems like I can`t win: - If the third party library solution works, I have successfully proven that my job is obsolete. - If it fails, I am guilty of negligence, and I have failed, and very likely I will end up jobless in this case too. Do you see any dignifying way out of this conundrum? Start typing my resume? Cheers. ALF
My suggestion: test the 3rd party library first. Not everything, just to stuff you need or the crucial stuff. If you can prove it won't do the trick, then you win. Testing a component before integrating it is common in SW. If that's ignored you didn't stand a chance from the very start.
Kitty at my foot and I waAAAant to touch it...
