Similar, possibly relevant anecdote from my own life:
In a recent computer science class I took, we (the entire class as a whole) were assigned a group project. We were split up into about 4 sub-groups of about 6 people each; each sub-group was assigned a part of the project. I was on the team that was responsible for drawing up specifications, coordinating the other groups, testing the parts, and assembling them into a whole.
Like Eliezer, I quickly realized that I could just write the whole thing myself (it was a little toy C++ program). And I did (it took maybe a couple of days). However, the professor was (of course) not willing to simply let me submit a complete project which I had written in its entirety; and since the groups were separated, there was no way for me to submit my work in a way that would plausibly let me claim that any sort of cooperation had taken place.
So I had to spend the rest of the semester trying to get the other groups to independently write the code that I had already written, trying to get them to see that the solutions I’d come up with were in fact working ones, and generally having conversations like the following:
Clueless Classmate: How should we do this? Perhaps ?
SaidAchmiz: Mmm… perhaps we might instead try .
CC: That doesn’t make any sense and will never work!
SA: Sigh.
I’m not quite sure what this could be a metaphor for, but it certainly felt rather metaphorical at the time...
My question is: are there some straightforward heuristics one can apply to find/select a workplace where such things occur as little as possible? At what kinds of places can one expect more of this, and at what kinds less? The effort to find a workplace where you do NOT have to handle such situations seems like it would be more effective in the long run (edit: that is, more effective in achieving happiness/sanity/job satisfaction) than learning to deal with said situations (though of course those things are not mutually exclusive!).
My question is: are there some straightforward heuristics one can apply to find/select a workplace where such things occur as little as possible? At what kinds of places can one expect more of this, and at what kinds less?
Yes, and it is an extremely high expected-value decision to actively seek out people who understand which workplaces are likely to be most suitable according to this and other important metrics.
Similar, possibly relevant anecdote from my own life:
In a recent computer science class I took, we (the entire class as a whole) were assigned a group project. We were split up into about 4 sub-groups of about 6 people each; each sub-group was assigned a part of the project. I was on the team that was responsible for drawing up specifications, coordinating the other groups, testing the parts, and assembling them into a whole.
Like Eliezer, I quickly realized that I could just write the whole thing myself (it was a little toy C++ program). And I did (it took maybe a couple of days). However, the professor was (of course) not willing to simply let me submit a complete project which I had written in its entirety; and since the groups were separated, there was no way for me to submit my work in a way that would plausibly let me claim that any sort of cooperation had taken place.
So I had to spend the rest of the semester trying to get the other groups to independently write the code that I had already written, trying to get them to see that the solutions I’d come up with were in fact working ones, and generally having conversations like the following:
Clueless Classmate: How should we do this? Perhaps ?
SaidAchmiz: Mmm… perhaps we might instead try .
CC: That doesn’t make any sense and will never work!
SA: Sigh.
I’m not quite sure what this could be a metaphor for, but it certainly felt rather metaphorical at the time...
It sounds like a metaphor for “what you need to learn to handle effectively in order to succeed in a typical workplace”. Good luck!
My question is: are there some straightforward heuristics one can apply to find/select a workplace where such things occur as little as possible? At what kinds of places can one expect more of this, and at what kinds less? The effort to find a workplace where you do NOT have to handle such situations seems like it would be more effective in the long run (edit: that is, more effective in achieving happiness/sanity/job satisfaction) than learning to deal with said situations (though of course those things are not mutually exclusive!).
Yes, and it is an extremely high expected-value decision to actively seek out people who understand which workplaces are likely to be most suitable according to this and other important metrics.