126
kesy
6y

Team Lead: Anyone has any concern on their tasks? I'll see what I can do to help.
Me: Yeah I'm afraid I would not be able to finish my task on time because of its complexity.
Team Lead: Try harder.

What's the point of asking?

Comments
  • 25
    Your team lead needs to learn the fundamental rule:

    Never ask a question that you don't want the answer to.
  • 5
    How long will it take you to fix this car?

    1 week.

    Well I need it in two days. Can we do this? Can we make it work?

    Umm...no. That's not even physically possible. It will take 1 week.

    What if we give you 4 additional mechanics? We can get any equipment you need tomorrow. We can pay you whatever you want; work all night.

    Um, well I'm not going to work all night, that's not safe and ... it literally cannot be done in less than a week.

    --

    This is the problem with software. Managers say they "try to push back" but then agree to the 2 day timeline anyway. That's fucking dumb. If it can't be done, don't say it can and force people to work long hours. Fuck that nose.
  • 11
    A diplomatic response in such situations is: „are you suggesting I am not doing my best already?” Bonus points if you ask this in a meeting in front of his boss.
  • 0
    @matste Someone has seen Uncle Bob's talk where he obliterates higher-ups for using expressions like "try harder" or "can you at least try"? 😄👍
  • 0
    @LordPeeve whose uncle Bob? the C# guy?
  • 0
  • 1
    And the talk i was referring to is here
    https://youtu.be/eisuQefYw_o

    The whole piece is interesting and in the last 5 minutes is the "will you try" trick
  • 1
    @LordPeeve interesting! i'll listen to it while coding hehe
  • 0
    @djsumdog they talk, we work hahahhahahhaha
  • 1
    it is your TL's duty to ask for concerns, not to help.
  • 1
    @matste I love that. Will use it definitely! I don’t think my TL is prepared to answer those questions, or at least will think about it. Highly appreciated, honestly.
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