donhackmanDec 11
Robert Roskam

A software engineer without "soft skills" is 0.1x engineer.

We all know this guy.

The one that you make sure to never talk to customer. The one you always need to ensure you approach carefully. The one who's "not good with people."

Yeah, that guy.

Software engineering is fundamentally a team sport. Even if he is very fast at typing in and recalling algorithms from memory, he'll make the entire org around him 1/10 as effective.

Dec 11 at 2:01pmPubler
Show threadBradley M. KühnDec 11

@raiderrobert I agree with you, but I encourage you to use the term "interpersonal skills", or "political acumen", or some phrase like that. "Soft skills" as a phrase is specifically designed to make it sound like they are skills that are lesser-than. (I do thank you for putting in scare-quotes to hint at that point).

Meanwhile, this reminds me of an anecdote from my undergraduate. Names are changed in next post to protect the innocent & guilty:

Cc: @wwahammy

Show threadBradley M. KühnDec 11

My undergraduate (≈1992) had only 1 class w/ group project—“Software Engineering”.

1 student, John, considered himself what he'd now call “10x”. His team struggled. In final weeks,he sat in lab alone for days & wrote the whole software system.

In final review, Professor (correctly) said John was the biggest problem on that team w/ pithy review: “Don't write software like a fighter pilot”.

John's not-getting-it response: “At least a fighter pilot has a wingman!” 🤦

Cc: @raiderrobert @wwahammy

Show threadEu-grin Seal-geeneDec 11
@raiderrobert somebody decided to promote this guy to his level of incompetence. They made him a director. He's finally leaving at the end of the month, hooray.
Show threadBoyd Stephen Smith Jr.Dec 11
@raiderrobert They kept me away from the customers because I won't knowingly lie to them. But, I worked quite well with the rest of the team.
Show threadJimTheWhyGuy ❌👑Dec 11

@raiderrobert I regret to admit it that sometimes I've been "that guy."

It was usually due to uncontrollable stress/anxiety about my capacity to do the job right, mainly because I lacked the tech skills to feel confident enough I was heading in the right direction.

Getting some anti-anxiety meds transformed me into someone who nowadays {almost!} always sees the value in being part of a team.

So there is hope for anyone to stop being "that guy" but it takes willingness to change. /1

Show threadJimTheWhyGuy ❌👑Dec 11

@raiderrobert I still do have days where I wish I could just lock myself into a room for several hours to work on code, problem solutions, documentation - whatever causes the stress + anxiety beyond what the meds can relieve.

So I've learned to find that room when needed and still be a fruitful part of the team ... just at a distance.

My point is: Not everyone is willing or able to +make+ that journey of self-discovery I was forced to. And that's what sux about IT sometimes. /fin

Show threadmauvedeityDec 11
@raiderrobert I got into consulting originally as a babysitter for those kind of devs. We had to take them on site, but it was my job to keep them away from the people who signed the cheques.
Show threadNikiDec 12
@raiderrobert software engineer without soft skills is just “ware engineer”