I recommend working with your rep in a specific, targeted way - for example, inviting them to attend a community event you care about. The approach you’re describing seems instead like vague criticism, so I’m not sure what “working” looks like there, except as an opportunity for you to blow off steam. If that’s what you’re looking for, great. But I recommend specific actions - eg: to vote a specific way on donation reform.
yep, which means this month might not be a great opportunity to see debate and voting going on.
But it will be a great opportunity to call your rep’s office, ask what they’re up to, and advocate for specific action on the issues you care about.
It’s a great way to dip your toes into being politically engaged, and what better time to try than a quiet sitting month?
@danluu you've already mentioned this downstream but the visibility of your work plays a huge role. Fred Brooks was aware of this almost half a century ago, and the role it played in software estimation:
So why is estimation so hard?
Software isn't like physical acts of creation, like bricklaying. Physical creation is tactile; the constraints are clear to see. This makes it easy to intuit estimates for bricklaying.
But the constraints on software development are invisible. How long does it take to arrange information and communication structures?
Another MMM thought: execution for software projects is really, really hard.
When the book was written, "execution" of software design and implementation was foetal; I'd say the distribution of people who know how to ship software is multimodal at best.
Estimation techniques conflate effort with progress (ie: the mythical man-month).
Even though estimation is a crap shoot, engineers struggle to push back on estimates.
The feedback loop to zero in on accurate measurements sucks.
An idea that popped into my head reading The Mythical Man Month:
Programming sucks, because it requires impeccable communication and coordination skills, because you make things for other people.
So it's possible that your authority to build $THING doesn't extend to support your responsibility to build $THING. You will have to fight uphill against that to fix other people's things, or get the right info and understanding of other people's ideas, and so on.
Adam Byatt
Leisa 🇦🇺