Wassup Jose Weblog nonsense at its best!

Pointing the Finger (Accountability and You)

There are a couple things that really grind my gears when it comes to people's work ethic. Fortunately, they both come together in this lovely post about accountability! I like taking credit for my work. I do so for a couple of reasons. First, I like to be rewarded and acknowledged for the good deeds I perform. Second, I also like to learn from my mistakes because learning from my mistakes makes me better able to perform good deeds which are rewarded and acknowledged! (Knowing thyself is a wonderful asset, especially when you know yourself at your worst. That's for another post.) So you may not find my sentiments surprising when I tell you that I despise people that do not take credit for their failures or take credit for other peoples successes.

Credit is due where it is due and not anywhere else (wow! how enlightening). But what seems like a simple idea is certainly at the crux of many social debacles. What most organizations try to do is bean count their way out of the situation and use that as their measuring tool. I think at a call center this is a good idea, yet not such a good idea on a software project. That being said, when people are reluctant to admit their mistakes openly, they're denying an opportunity to learn and make themselves better. They fine tune their ability to defend themselves and detriment their ability to make good software. Humility is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT attribute of a good software programmer because the industry is changing so quickly. Learning is the precipice of the trade and if you're not tuning in, you're maintaining mainframes. I can deal with mistakes. I've certainly made my share of them, but what hurts my soul is when others are so willing to shift the blame. Worst case scenario: You are blamed for something that you did not do wrong. These situations happen often and are usually the ones that leave me the most upset. I was brought into a meeting last week where the decision was essentially made that I was to blame. As SOON as I walked into the room after being summoned, the room look like they were a jury ready to convict me of murder. As the conversation went on, I tired to raise possible causes for the problem. The problem was obviously not mine. Yet as I began to shift the blame, in the interest of brainstorming possible causes, people became irate. Here I am being accused of the crime and while I'm not denying it, because I don't know what the real cause of the issue is, my efforts of trying to brainstorm a more accurate analysis are met with hostility. Being that obtuse and hostile about suppositions is a typical CYA move. Denying the claim is acceptable. Getting bent out of shape like I just denounced your religion is utter bollocks. Have a sense of teamwork...

The other thing I despise is hypocrisy. This term is best applied to politics where everyone gets to see the old video compared to the new video comparing opposing remarks from the same person. The idea is similar but more potent in this context, because when politicians breakdown on sound bites they can often be years apart. Learning is ok and a changing opinion isn't necessarily a bad thing (if that can be said for any politician). Yet in a software development context the turn around time I'm conveying is almost immediate. I don't even know if wasting words here to rant about my experiences is even necessary. There's no doubt in my mind that you've already experienced this yourself. Some person goes on and on about processes, then when its their turn to follow the process suddenly THEY'RE THE EXCEPTION TO THE FUCKING RULE. Come on!!! That's just makes my heart break typing those words. So many examples come to mind. I know that practicing what you preach can be difficult. Something tells me that Kant didn't practice his ideals, yet Nietzsche's insanity convinces me that he did in fact follow his own philosophy. I don't imagine that the mind was meant for such disciplined rules, but these rules are the backbone of our societal progress. In order to stay fair we need to follow them ourselves. We may not agree about all the laws instantiated by the government, but when you lay down rules of engagement for others to follow, you better damn well follow them yourself.