Hacker News Reader

Comment by ggoo | Hacker News Reader

While this may work, it just seems like incredibly unhealthy advice to give or to take. People should be able to focus on their work without being expected to take up random side quests, and if there is a career path, make the requirements clear.

View on HN

> make the requirements clear

idealistic, but more often than not, unrealistic, unfortunately

If your company does not make career growth requirements clear and actionable, your best vector for career growth is changing companies.

most everything is unrealistic if we just assume it to be so and give up on seeing the world in any different way.

Doing work without contributing to identifying what is the most important work to do can be soul killing.

Some people just want to be given exact instructions on what to do. Others find that role very frustrating.

I agree. This outlook also implies a greater degree of meritocracy than usually exists in a competitive corporate environment. Doing a good job and taking initiative sometimes leads to promotions, but it sometimes just leads to more work. Meanwhile, many ladder climbers are busy optimizing for their own success, not the corp's.

You want to leave any company where doing a good job doesn’t lead to raises and promotions, as soon as possible.

Let's assume those requirements aren't made clear. People will still get promoted, based on side quests and initiative. And those people will have demonstrated a lot of important qualities that all the others (who were blocked on lack of requirements) never showed.

So what's the problem again?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com