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5y

How do you deal with massively poorly-performing and unknowledgeable teams?

For background, I've been in my current position for ~7 months now.

A new manager joined recently and he's just floored at the reality of the team.

I mean, a large portion of my interview (and his) was the existing manager explicitly warning about how much of a dumpster fire everything is.

But still, nothing prepares you for it.

We're talking things like:
- Sequential integer user ids that are passable as query string args to anonymous endpoints, thus enabling you to view the data read by that view *for any* user.
- God-like lookup tables that all manner of pieces of data are shoved into as a catch-all
- A continued focus on unnecessary stored procedures despite us being a Linq shop
- Complete lack of awareness of SOLID principles
- Actual FUD around the simplest of things like interfaces, inversion of control, dependency injection (and the list goes on).

I've been elevated into this sort of quasi-senior position (in all but title - and salary), and I find myself having to navigate a daily struggle of trying to not have an absolute shit fit every time I have to dive into the depths of some of the code.

Compounded onto that is the knowledge that most of the team are on comparable salaries (within a couple thousand) of mine, purely owing to length of service.

We're talking salaries for mid-senior level devs, for people that at market rates would command no more (if even close) than a junior rate.

The problem is that I'm aware of how bad things are, but then somehow I'm constantly surprised and confronted with ever more insane levels of shitfuckery, and... I'm getting tired.

It's been 7 months, I love the job, I'm working in the charity sector and I love the fact that the things I'm working on are directly improving people's lives, rather than lining some fintech fatcat's pockets.

I guess this was more a rant than a question, and also long time no see...

So my question is this:

- How do you deal with this?
- How do you go on without just dying inside every single day?

question

wtf

dying inside

burnout

poor code

shit team
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  • 0
    5y
    I'm afraid you will have to die inside every day and wake up next day hoping for something better to happen
  • 1
    5y
    If you're in a quasi-senior position, ask for a quasi-senior salary and see what they say.
  • 1
    5y
    > How do you deal with massively poorly-performing and unknowledgeable teams?

    Depends on why they are that way. Remember, people do what they do because they think it's the right thing. That includes malicious acts - people do those because they think the other party deserves it.

    Maybe that god-table exists because the team thinks this saves time, e.g. as opposed to a complicated and "uncomfortable" "real" database layout. Or they don't know any better because "that's the way we've always done it" and "it works". Or maybe they do know better, but it ensures their job security. Same for the other points.

    > How do you go on without just dying inside every single day?

    I don't know, I have quit such projects. Maybe things are better with a supportive manager. If you don't want to go on, that's okay, too. Project and dev have to fit together. If that's not the case the adult thing is to accept it and move on.
  • 0
    5y
    This post of yours describes how I feel about the whole of humanity.

    Embrace the suck.

    Or become a supervillian or something.

    Or maybe just be a dick to someone in a meeting in order to make an example out of them.

    If you're gonna lead people sometimes you have to make them choose between loving you or fearing you.
  • 3
    5y
    @Wisecrack
    > Or maybe just be a dick to someone in a meeting in order to make an example out of them.
    > If you're gonna lead people sometimes you have to make them choose between loving you or fearing you.
    What? No! What is this, a manual "how to be toxic"?
  • 0
    5y
    @VaderNT

    "is this a manual on how to be toxic."

    Yes.
  • 1
    5y
    It depends.

    Most of the time you can decide between sucking it up or fighting.

    fighting can make u as depressive as sucking it up with a tiny chance of success.

    Fighting means to improve the teams knowledge and becoming a Leader, which will BE a pain in the arse.

    And no... You don't have to be toxic
  • 0
    5y
    Resign.
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