No doubt it is dangerous to remember that the people who’s work you mark up and sell to pay your own salary are actually deserving of all the kind indulgences that you lavish on yourself — but if you can’t at least fool me that you think that is the case, and I have a choice of where I am going to work, I can assure you that it will not be for you.

The other insight I wanted to share is that geeks, if they’re so full of market economics bravado, need to stop being passive-aggressive about compensation. If you sit and wait for an inadequate raise, then leave for greener pastures as a form of revenge, then you’ve just done everyone involved, including yourself, a disservice. Much better to make sure your employer understands that you are influenced by market economics well before your performance review.

Again, I really like your thinking here.

For what it’s worth, I was writing about complaints as they are generally viewed, i.e. negatively. I think this negative association is commonly thought of as “complaining just for complaining’s sake” with no real value or effort to improve one’s situation.

However, when viewed according to your perspective, I absolutely agree that there is value if the verbal input results in a quantifiable output. Otherwise, it’s just talk, which to me is no different than going to a meeting for an hour and leaving with no action to take. I prefer to avoid those situations, but am happy to listen to a co-worker vent because, as I said above, I am aware of the function complaining serves.

And I suppose the real reason people don’t like complaints is because some effort is usually required to resolve whatever issue the complaint is in regards to. People like the path of least resistance and, to some, complaints = resistance. Not always a bad thing!

Thanks!
mark

I have no proof beyond speculation of this, but I am sure that people in the civil war complained that the doctors could do nothing more for infected leg wounds other than lop off the injured leg. It had nothing to do with knowing a solution, the situation just sucked. If a requirement for a complaint to be valid were that there needed to be a solution, then what do software developers do? We satisfy short-comings of an application. What is that more than erasing a complaint off the “complaint list”. If people do not know about software, then how would they ever ask for improvements? Your TED source is flawed IMHO.

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, but really is it not just the complaint toward the current state of things. Computers were not a necessity, but they sure make stuff a lot easier than pen and paper; long division [sheesh]. I think we need to reassess the value of complaining as a whole. Much as they have gossip(see http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19960701-000035.html).

Doug

Good points all around and I agree with you.

Of course the obvious difference between us as employees and our boss(es) is that they presumably have much more control over our lives than the average person we encounter on the street. When you compound that with the fact that development as a profession is poorly understood, you definitely get a recipe that’s easy to screw up. It was oversimplification on my part to imply that everyone has the flexibility to find another job. That assumes that there are jobs in your area, that you don’t have family obligations, etc.

I do understand why people are sensitive to actions taken by their supervisors and I understand the function complaining/venting serves. A quote that’s really stuck with me and, unfortunately, encouraged me to be a little judgmental about “complainers” came from a designer on TED Talks: “Act or ignore; complaining is silly”.

Regarding your point about leadership: in my view, the best thing about being a manager or leader is also the worst thing about it – YOU make all the decisions. The benefits of better pay and more authority don’t outweigh the added responsibility and associated blame when events go badly.

So, yeah. I agree with you. It’s hard to write about all sides in a (relatively) short post, plus it wouldn’t make for a very good read and I wouldn’t get great comments like these.

Thanks for reading!
mark

This brings about an interesting point about leadership: Nobody complains to the guy doing the work, they complain to his supervisor.

I am sure if you were to eat at a your local diner and discovered food in your hair, I mean hair in your food, you would no doubt ask for the manager. Being in charge has always been a lonely position to be in. On battlefields generals order people to death ultimately. In our government the President is almost exclusively blamed for the status of the economy (emphasis on almost because there are exceptions).

The reason people are sensitive to the decisions their direct supervisors make, is not because they do not think they are a person, but because their decisions can affect their livelihood. If someone has complete control over your bank account and likes to buy expensive things then their will be animosity when that someone else buys something that puts you in a financial bind.

Money is important. It ends marriages, people kill for it. It may sound like greed, but is a harsh reality. Workers will only moderately tolerate people taking their money, which is what is occurring when they take less than what you are worth in compensation. Once you have decided that you are worth X amount more than you are being paid, I hope everyone is in a position to leave their current employer and go elsewhere to find work. Complaining is the natural predecessor to leaving the employer and is really the only fair way for an employee to behave. I am not saying it should be tactless. An intelligent and attentive manager learns before their people start leaving that is why complaining is justified. I think people just need to learn who to complain to. (Your manager for the slow ones, not your buddies)

My 2 cents
Doug