undefined | Better HN

0 pointshpaavola12y ago0 comments

By definition most companies, most teams and most individuals are average. There are very few really good developers and managers. What suits those few does not really matter. They will do great things not matter what. Agile works for most better than the alternatives.

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Tyrannosaurs12y ago

Unless you have a very oddly skewed set of people, by the definition of average most people are average (or close to it)...

vanderZwan12y ago

I think you missed the part where he implied that what programming culture considers "good" software is nothing short of a near-perfect to perfect technical implementation. In other words: what the other guy called "shitty" is actually the average.

See also the odd thing that most people consider themselves better than average, which by definition cannot be true.

Tyrannosaurs12y ago

Yes, the idea that almost everyone considers themselves to be a better than average driver.

I've always wondered with that whether the problem is with the question. What it's really checking is whether someone will admit to being worse than average, which is a very different thing to thinking you're worse than average.

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briantakita12y ago

I'd like the flip that thinking on it's head a bit. It's not about "average" or "better or worse" than average. The need to put yourself and others into some sort of ranking stems from the need to categorize everything into a hierarchy.

I'm talking about something more binary. Good or bad. Progress or stagnation. The right or wrong side of history.

I'm also talking about power. Who determines engineering practice. The engineers or the marketers?

Evidence of power is in the corporate hierarchy. Are there n tiers of middle management? Can an engineer truly make a difference at a company? Will the engineer be able to have a voice in what the priority is?

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briantakita12y ago

I agree.

As an engineer who aspires to be on the leading edge of the practice, I've become more picky with who I work with. Luckily, "those few" tend to also be picky and seek each other out.

When I first started out, I sought people who were entrepreneurial and innovative.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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Tyrannosaurs12y ago

Unless you have a very oddly skewed set of people, by the definition of average most people are average (or close to it)...

vanderZwan12y ago

See also the odd thing that most people consider themselves better than average, which by definition cannot be true.

Tyrannosaurs12y ago

Yes, the idea that almost everyone considers themselves to be a better than average driver.

1 more reply

briantakita12y ago

I'm talking about something more binary. Good or bad. Progress or stagnation. The right or wrong side of history.

I'm also talking about power. Who determines engineering practice. The engineers or the marketers?

1 more reply

briantakita12y ago

I agree.

As an engineer who aspires to be on the leading edge of the practice, I've become more picky with who I work with. Luckily, "those few" tend to also be picky and seek each other out.

When I first started out, I sought people who were entrepreneurial and innovative.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse