Comment by jondubois | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jondubois | Hacker News Reader

I find that confidence is really powerful, even among engineers (who you would think are rational).

I noticed that some engineers can come across as extremely smart because they talk fast and can think fast - Also, they are really good at defending their ideas when put on the spot but if you dig deeper afterwards you might often find that while their solution is good, it's not the best one.

It always takes time to come up with optimum engineering solutions - It's not something that just pops into your head in a millisecond whist having a casual technical discussion - No matter how smart you are. The history of software development (with all of its failed projects) is proof that even great engineers have difficult coming up with optimum ideas.

+1 for the fast-talking engineer phenomenon. I think quickness of thought is a fitness that can be exercised, mostly orthogonally to deep thought. We all eventually find someone who thinks and talks faster than ourselves, but indeed we also eventually become that person to another. If you find yourself feeling like you're 10 steps ahead, the best thing to do is give ample room for your conversational foil to express their thoughts. If they disagree, don't immediately assume it's because they haven't considered everything. You should go in with the good faith assumption that they intuitively see a corner case you haven't considered, and then work collaboratively with them to put their objection into words. After all, if there is a problem, it will rear its head eventually, whether or not you can "win" the argument!

The most important thing is being open to the fact that you will be wrong. I've lost track of the number of times I have machine gunned out ideas/solutions only to have parts (or even all of it) picked apart by myself or others.

Your final point is the most important. Ultimately the process should be about solving the problem in the best manner possible, not how person X thinks it should be solved.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com