The start of a new chapter of career life...

Until now, I always saw myself as the base raiser... but raising the base is not what everyone else on my team wants...

Only took me 3 years to realize... so I guess time to just fall in line...

I guess it's why some smart people act dumb on the job... It's just easier to blend in...

What is a base raiser? Is it related to code?

@kaae

I guess he mean an average raiser.

For example a person who is really smart and raise the average score of a class by himself.

I think he is getting trouble on his job because he over perform and his boss either expect everyone to perform as he does or his boss expect him to "over perform" every time which led to burn out.

@kaae typo... Bar raiser

@mr-user whenever something looks wrong or inefficient, messy, I tell people they should clean up, do ....

So I guess it's like unasked for advice.... But well they don't do it or feel like I'm nagging them sorta like a mom.

And I guess I'm tired of playing the mom no one listens to. So more of a u screwed up, u fix it, don't ask me.

@donuts

You have finally learn to let go.

It's ok to stop being a mom but don't compromise yourself for them. Don't lower your performance just because they can't keep up.

"Your efforts will be rewarded someday" - Ishigami Yu

Yeah agree, don't become complacent, too. I guess I could be called a "bar raiser" as well. I believe in continuous improvement, things like "that's how we've always done it" and "that's just how it is" I consider excuses.

My favorite team in my career consisted of almost only "bar raisers". Best time of my life.

@VaderNT how do you keep from becoming complacent?

I'm self taught but stopped doing my own projects years ago or just build new one from existing code because a lot of the more advanced stuff, concepts are only usable/make sense to use solving big problems, on expensive hardware.

I've known mobile, desktop, web, some algo stuff, but sort of hit a glass ceiling of not having any more personal problems I need/want to solve with this stuff.

And ML/Docker etc are stuff that I can't find a personal use case for.

Yeah, it's just a common knowledge. To be one step ahead, one has to blend in.
I'm working on some innovative researches and article for development optimization in the bare field. But I mostly pretend like it's no big deal, as if it is no surprise and everyone with higher skill level can do it too. In the end of the day, I think it's not about a person.

@vintprox but then how do you get promoted?

@donuts who needs promotion from the ups when you gave yourself one? 😏

@donuts
> how do you keep from becoming complacent?

Good question. Some say enthusiasm is contagious. I haven't yet seen a complacent team becoming motivated from an "outside influence" like that. It's either in the team culture from the beginning, or it's never. I switch teams or companies. Life's too short for such depressing no win scenarios.

> but sort of hit a glass ceiling of not having any more personal problems I need/want to solve with this stuff.
> And ML/Docker etc are stuff that I can't find a personal use case for.

Same here. 😄 ML and Docker are two topics I know very little about, would like to, but OTOH have almost no relevance to me.

That's the only thing I miss about amazon. Dog eat dog meritocracy never left me bored.

@SortOfTested

It's interesting policy. You have to encourage competition between each other and one wrong step would bred toxic culture.

@SortOfTested

Does amazon use something like XDSD? ( https://www.xdsd.org/ )

@mr-user
No, they use their own methodology. Every team operates as an independent product. They pay very well, and I my keep A players. The system is set up in such a way that people who don't constantly improve and raise the bar are shown the door.

I've worked for a big company that employed a similar concept: Internally consisting of competing "mini companies". I hate it, it immediately turns toxic.

The problem is it discourages cooperation and instead encourages silo mentality and egoism. Getting help from other teams becomes nearly impossible, because you helping others improves *their* bottom line. You don't want that if the bottom line is all that counts.

It's related to the "tragedy of the commons". The way the system is set up makes it worse for everyone. It doesn't even improve the company's bottom line overall, because everyone is trying to trip up everyone else. Pure corporate hell.

@VaderNT
I assume you're replying to me.

Sounds likely if your company didn't hire the absolute best and demanded those services interoperate as a matter of course rather than being an actual product responsible for its own revenue generation.

Rather than try and argue the point I'm just going to point out that AWS rains shit on whatever rinky-dink corporate cesspool you worked for by every imaginable measure and is not comparable.

@SortOfTested yes, to you and mr-user. Sorry, I should have referenced you.

Oh don't get me wrong, my ex-employer is ridiculously successful (locally, not internationally). They're basically printing their own money. Thing is, I'm convinced it's not because of their culture but *despite* their culture.

I don't know enough about Amazon to tell how far that applies to them, if at all. The part about "independent products" in competition to each other and mandatory "constantly improving" just gave me flashbacks. And these aspects, taken alone, are easily abused.