October 28, 2015 at 3:26 pm
GoofyGuy (10/28/2015)
... a top-end consultant probably wouldn't be interested in anything other than a challenge.
So then ... the less-exalted aren't interested ever in challenges, they're just in it for the money?
That's not only untrue, it's unkind.
I know there are at least some high-paying un-challenging gigs out there. However, broadly speaking, the more the challenge, the higher the pay, and so the higher-end the consultant. The client typically expects (and desperately needs) something extra for the extra money. There are plenty of challenges at all experience levels, just different sorts of challenges. I wouldn't want to repeat some of my first gigs.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 28, 2015 at 3:49 pm
...I know there are at least some high-paying un-challenging gigs out there.
WHERE? Those are the ones I want but can never find. I always get stuck having to earn the premium pay!
October 29, 2015 at 9:04 am
william-700725 (10/28/2015)
...I know there are at least some high-paying un-challenging gigs out there.
WHERE? Those are the ones I want but can never find. I always get stuck having to earn the premium pay!
The type of job in question may not be technically or professionally challenging; it's just challenging in other ways, for example a bad manager who keeps driving the DBA nuts. The organization ends up having the shell out more money just to keep the position filled. I guess it's perfect for someone who is satisfied to pop a happy pill each morning and hit the cruise control button. There actually are jobs and entire IT departments like that to be found, if anybody wants it.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 29, 2015 at 11:26 am
Eric M Russell (10/29/2015)
william-700725 (10/28/2015)
...I know there are at least some high-paying un-challenging gigs out there.
WHERE? Those are the ones I want but can never find. I always get stuck having to earn the premium pay!
The type of job in question may not be technically or professionally challenging; it's just challenging in other ways, for example a bad manager who keeps driving the DBA nuts.
Well, I'm already nuts, so that's not a problem.
As to other challenges, well, some people feel more challenged than others -- I spent a little over a year in a DBA position that had been hard to fill because nobody liked the neighborhood (it was over on the South Side.. of Baghdad), and I *really* liked the paychecks I got then (paid hourly for a 98-hour work week with a bump in the hourly rate to cover the undesirable location, plus free food and gym membership).
Back on topic, that also happened to be where I came up with my Rutherford Rule (named after the guy who I first heard explain my way of doing business to a *really* bad manager): If you tell me to do something stupid, I will quietly explain why I think it is a bad idea. If you keep telling me enough times, I will stop explaining and just do as I'm told.
October 29, 2015 at 3:08 pm
william-700725 (10/29/2015)
Eric M Russell (10/29/2015)
william-700725 (10/28/2015)
...I know there are at least some high-paying un-challenging gigs out there.
WHERE? Those are the ones I want but can never find. I always get stuck having to earn the premium pay!
The type of job in question may not be technically or professionally challenging; it's just challenging in other ways, for example a bad manager who keeps driving the DBA nuts.
Well, I'm already nuts, so that's not a problem.
As to other challenges, well, some people feel more challenged than others -- I spent a little over a year in a DBA position that had been hard to fill because nobody liked the neighborhood (it was over on the South Side.. of Baghdad), and I *really* liked the paychecks I got then (paid hourly for a 98-hour work week with a bump in the hourly rate to cover the undesirable location, plus free food and gym membership).
Back on topic, that also happened to be where I came up with my Rutherford Rule (named after the guy who I first heard explain my way of doing business to a *really* bad manager): If you tell me to do something stupid, I will quietly explain why I think it is a bad idea. If you keep telling me enough times, I will stop explaining and just do as I'm told.
That fine for a short term consulting gig, but you probably wouldn't want to work under those conditions fulltime permanently; would you?
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
March 21, 2019 at 9:32 am
Eric M Russell - Monday, October 19, 2015 8:02 AMGilaMonster (10/19/2015)
Eric M Russell (10/19/2015)
GilaMonster (10/19/2015)
I've seen bad management result in a complete turnover of the entire development staff within 3 months. That is, no dev who was working there at the start of the 3 months was still there at the end.I hate to think what that cost the company in terms of recruitment and lost productivity.It's bad enough when an organization has bad management, but to couple that with an IT department where practically everyone is new to the business... I pitty the patsy who gets hired there. There is an old proverb which states: "A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind.", but one would really have to struggle hard to extract opportunity from that particular crisis.
Didn't help that they hired cheap to replace the people who left.
Using the twisted logic of a bad manager, if all of your development staff quits, then it presents an excellent opportunity to replace them with cheaper and more tractable staff. That anti-pattern is fatal for an organization.
Eric, I have seen the same as what you describe. At one point I worked in a company with IT personnel in two locations separated by roughly 60 miles. There was a dedicated IT co-manager in each location and that worked worked pretty well. Then the owners of the company decided to add an additional manager to 'manage the managers'. The unfortunate result was a nearly complete turnover of developers in a short time frame who were not in fact replaced with lower cost individuals. While hiring from the outside is sometimes necessary, there is a definite risk and companies need to carefully assess that factor.
Rick
One of the best days of my IT career was the day I told my boss if the problem was so simple he should go fix it himself.
March 21, 2019 at 10:33 am
robert.sterbal 56890 - Monday, October 19, 2015 9:05 AMIf these were publicly traded companies, would you short their stock?
I wonder if it is ethical to short your own employers stock...?
March 21, 2019 at 11:00 am
pwhoyt - Thursday, March 21, 2019 10:33 AMrobert.sterbal 56890 - Monday, October 19, 2015 9:05 AMIf these were publicly traded companies, would you short their stock?I wonder if it is ethical to short your own employers stock...?
Only if you tell other people to short the stock. (Insider Trading)
March 21, 2019 at 1:20 pm
There are plenty of challenges at all experience levels, just different sorts of challenges. I wouldn't want to repeat some of my first gigs.
I really got to enjoy myself on some of my earlier data-centric gigs -- good management that didn't mind my solution for getting bored with the in-scope stuff was to look for out-of-scope ways I could help.
On the other hand, I explicitly turned down an invitation to revisit my last gig. The only thing worse than bad management is absent management.
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