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Interesting.

This run's counter to a lot of my experiences. I don't tend to see much office politics at all with software developers. Maybe because salary isn't tied as closely to rank and it's so easy to shop around and jump ship if you feel like you're getting fucked.




From what I've seen, with us, fear is the motivator for the mistreatment of others, not greed.

It's the same story at every company: developers are under constant pressure from management, we aren't given the tools or help we need at the right time, we get no credit, but all the blame when things go wrong. When people feel threatened, the open and creative part of their brain shuts down and it becomes fight or flight and every man for himself. Devs become extremely rigid and dogmatic, as every bad work experience leaves a scar on us, and they resolve to never EVER make the same mistake again.

"Hell is other people" is like the personal motto of some programmers. You don't agree with me, fine, I'll just refactor your code when you're sleeping. People read random blog posts and then take it as holy writ, undisputable proof, and if you disagree then let me write a long email lecture to educate you about why I'm right and you're wrong. I've seen people get into physical FIGHTS at scrum, resulting in broken bones. I wish I was making this up.




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