On the other hand, a Slashdot comment that’s stuck in my mind (and on my hard disks) since I read it years ago:
In one respect the computer industry is exactly like the construction industry: nobody has two minutes to tell you how to do something...but they all have forty-five minutes to tell you why you did it wrong.
When I started working at a tech company, as a lowly new-guy know-nothing, I found that any question starting with “How do I...” or “What’s the best way to...” would be ignored; so I had to adopt another strategy. Say I wanted to do X. Research showed me there were (say) about six or seven ways to do X. Which is the best in my situation? I don’t know. So I pick an approach at random, though I don’t actually use it. Then I wander down to the coffee machine and casually remark, “So, I needed to do X, and I used approach Y.” I would then, inevitably, get a half-hour discussion of why that was stupid, and what I should have done was use approach Z, because of this, this, and this. Then I would go off and use approach Z.
In ten years in the tech industry, that strategy has never failed once. I think the key difference is the subtext. In the first strategy, the subtext is, “Hey, can you spend your valuable time helping me do something trivial?” while in the second strategy, the subtext is, “Hey, here’s a chance to show
off how smart you are.” People being what they are, the first subtext will usually fail—but the second will always succeed.
In addition to the specific advice, this is an excellent example of rationality because it’s about getting the best from people as they are rather than being resentful because they aren’t behaving as they would if they were ideally rational.
I can’t be sure, because I first read that comment so long ago, but I think I took it as an inspiration to be better than the co-workers at the coffee machine. It’s repellent to imagine myself as a person who’d spend 45 minutes on a Yer Doin It Rong lecture but wouldn’t spend 2 minutes to explain how to do something properly in the first place.
This is known as Cunningham’s Law. Another example.The explanation (non-competitive vs. competitive mindsets, the latter of which is more motivating to act) seems quite convincing. In addition, could there also be an analogy to loss aversion (a tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains)? Would people feel more urgency to correct what they see as wrong (and thus challenging what they see as correct) rather than explain what is right (“less wrong” vs. “more right”, if we are not trying to avoid puns)?
On the other hand, a Slashdot comment that’s stuck in my mind (and on my hard disks) since I read it years ago:
— fumblebruschi
In addition to the specific advice, this is an excellent example of rationality because it’s about getting the best from people as they are rather than being resentful because they aren’t behaving as they would if they were ideally rational.
I can’t be sure, because I first read that comment so long ago, but I think I took it as an inspiration to be better than the co-workers at the coffee machine. It’s repellent to imagine myself as a person who’d spend 45 minutes on a Yer Doin It Rong lecture but wouldn’t spend 2 minutes to explain how to do something properly in the first place.
This is known as Cunningham’s Law. Another example.The explanation (non-competitive vs. competitive mindsets, the latter of which is more motivating to act) seems quite convincing. In addition, could there also be an analogy to loss aversion (a tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains)? Would people feel more urgency to correct what they see as wrong (and thus challenging what they see as correct) rather than explain what is right (“less wrong” vs. “more right”, if we are not trying to avoid puns)?
A reply because an upvote doesn’t begin to cover it. I might start using this!