I see. Where I work, “manager” is the title one rung up from doer.
Yeah, and that’s pretty standard. It’s the VPs and equivalents that I’m talking about, the people that are more like administrators of the organization than managers of teams of productive workers.
I miss going to the office. But I like my coworkers and my commute. Of course it should be optional for most people. I just wish I had the option to go back.
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That would be great if it actually worked like that. But in plenty of settings the manager doesn’t have the ability to do what the doers do. I’ve seen that more times than I can count.
Reading this thread i think many of you havent ever worked with middle or senior managers who are a) good at their job and b) not psychopaths
From my experience its not that rare. But maybe its like poker… if you cant spot the pointless middle manager at the table…
In many cases the manager can’t do the job of his/her direct reports because things have evolved in the years since they did the job, if they ever did. This means the manager is incapable of evaluating people and just defaults to who is the best ass kisser or public speaker.
I’ve come to the conclusion you either work for yourself and give a shit or don’t and cut the best possible deal for yourself. Actually giving a shit when working for a company someone else owns is a sucker move.
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Bullshit Jobs - David Graeber
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I just started wfh thing not long ago and am surprised by how effortless and impromptu getting together virtually is. And fun even, but everyone seems to like each other and what they’re doing. Ymmv.
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100% correct. However that is a hard affliction to rid oneself of.
I think the great Marcellus Wallace said it best:
“you may feel a slight sting. That’s pride ****ing with you. **** pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps.”
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My office is definitely going to have a hybrid option and it will definitely be a career limiting move to use it. Particulalry for younger people.
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Is everybody WFH or a mix?
Mix
Thought you worked for yourself in the solar biz. Did you take a job somewhere?
One of the big changes going from my old architecture firm job to working for the state is nobody puts out an agenda or distributes notes after a meeting. My rule for any meeting that I run is I send out an agenda beforehand so everyone knows what we’re discussing, and I send out notes afterwards so all decisions are memorialized and any outstanding tasks are noted.
I seem to be the only one at the state that does this.
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I am transitioning to software. I currently have 6 month contract for ~30hr/wk. Still doing some solar.
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Oh yeah, I remember you talking about coding awhile back. Congrats!
What language(s) did you end up studying?
The job is Ruby on Rails, React (and plain JavaScript), and python so far. I was a programmer before solar so it wasn’t the bootcamp->jerb path, but I did take a couple classes in C++.
That’s awesome. Has to be a better gig than crawling on rooftops in 110 degree heat!
Though I suspect you miss creating tangible things with your hands.
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Yeah. I have commitments so I’m not quite getting to enact my “no solar in the summer” rule this year, but I hope I can do it next year.
Maybe you already posted this at some point, but why the heck did you ever leave programming for solar in the first place?