Blaine's an asshole (safe space)

Is Blaine an asshole


  • Total voters
    34
We have a management "crisis" at work of sorts and I think this is common across multiple industries. The best managers are the ones that have actually done the work of the engineers they manage, really understand the difficulties/details and tethered to reality when it comes to giving out deadline commits and such. When they "cross appoint" people who have been managers for a while but with no relevant experience to the group they are assigned to manage, it really creates a lot of chaos and inefficiency. Some people pick things up quickly but many don't. Sadly, given how few engineers want to be managers (or can be good at managing if given the opportunity), things get really messy. The other problem that is there is the enormous knowledge gap that gets created when experienced people quit or move and someone gets to pick up the pieces and just get back to the previous normalcy. I have been really pushing my immediate management to address these fundamental issues and it's crazy how hard it is to get upper management to understand these things.

edit: LOL at your avatar tagline :LOL::ROFLMAO:

There is a management shortage because no one wants the underpaid, overrated, babysitting gig. Everyone and thier brother bitches about shitty managers but they tend to be the biggest pain in the ass, know-it-all, bitch about everything but bring zero solutions, miserable pricks. Want to take the fast lane to blowing your fucking brains out, "manage" middle aged employees!
 
There is a management shortage because no one wants the underpaid, overrated, babysitting gig. Everyone and thier brother bitches about shitty managers but they tend to be the biggest pain in the ass, know-it-all, bitch about everything but bring zero solutions, miserable pricks. Want to take the fast lane to blowing your fucking brains out, "manage" middle aged employees!
The guys I manage act like they are 4 year olds no matter if they are 66 or 30.
 
There is a management shortage because no one wants the underpaid, overrated, babysitting gig. Everyone and thier brother bitches about shitty managers but they tend to be the biggest pain in the ass, know-it-all, bitch about everything but bring zero solutions, miserable pricks. Want to take the fast lane to blowing your fucking brains out, "manage" middle aged employees!

I did not mean "crisis" as in shortage, but as in lack of good direction.

I don't do what I do for the money, but for the intellectual curiosity and for the relationships I get to build with good people. I can put up with all that you described, but what I will not do is to play politics or dishonestly hype myself up (just look at some Linkedin profiles if you do not believe me) to get managerial positions.
 
Who’s Blaine?

🙃

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Sadly, given how few engineers want to be managers (or can be good at managing if given the opportunity), things get really messy.
Oh yea.

Long story made short: The outfit I worked for needed a new, custom microcontroller - and it had gone on so long that it had reached a crisis point. I called a meeting of everybody involved, techs, engineers, and management. Laid out 3 possible ways out of the scenario. They went with my preferred option - a brand new design and asked me what I needed. I named 2 other people and myself, and said "and get out of our way. No endless meetings, no wasting time, no bullshit". "How long?" I was asked. "90 days" was my response. They looked at me like I had 3 heads - because this was academia. I told them that normal concept to market for something like this in industry was 60. They said "Go ahead".

It took closer to 120 days as this was over the Xmas holiday and what not, but we got it done. Afterwards, the head of engineering wanted me to write up why this worked so fast. I went to see him in person and told him that I wouldn't write a damn thing but I'd tell him. So I went into the reasons why we were able to get this done when nobody else could: No endless design reviews, moving targets, creeping featuritis, and other delays endemic in the academic world. He said "You're right, I can't take this to Sr. Management!"

This was in late 2001. It was supposed to be a 2 year stopgap. They're still using it!
 
This was in late 2001. It was supposed to be a 2 year stopgap. They're still using it!
I remodeled the office for the auto shop I worked at. I was building counters and covering them with Formica. He wanted a down and dirty printer holder stuck off the side of one of the counters. I told him it would take an extra day, he said now, I said I want it nice, he said NOW!. I built it out of unfinished MDF and hung it there. I used a black Sharpie and wrote on the inside face where he could see it from his chair- There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution!!

Then every time I went back to visit for the next 5 years, I made it my personal mission to point that out to him. I think he still hates me.