(Insert quip about queuing theory and unbounded wait times.)
731 karma · joined March 16, 2015
int total = IntStream.rangeClosed(1, 10).map(x -> x*x).sum();
I'm glad you think your manager is a good guy and that you like him. I might like him too. My first reaction to your question was, "The gold badge might be worth the paper it's printed on" -- not too far from your manager's coffee comment.
But that little exchange between you and your manager betrayed a lot. I suspect your manager is thinking about what results you deliver, but you're thinking more about the effort you've put in. The problem is that nobody cares how much effort you put in. Mostly they're looking for results, and results are what drive economic value.
This is not to say that posting to StackOverflow is worthless. It's not. (I'm a participant there too.) But its value is what you get out of that activity: what you've learned, the practice you get, and yes, the motivation you get for scoring points and getting badges. Isn't getting a gold badge an accomplishment? Not to anyone outside of SO. It's mainly evidence of time and effort you've put in, but it says little about how much you have or could accomplish if someone were to hire you.
Do a web search for the phrase "no one cares how hard you worked." You'll get some articles on this theme. One is [1]. Ok, this is about photography, but the point is relevant: someone likes a photograph or they don't. It doesn't matter that you put a lot of work into it, they still might not like it. Or [2]. See point #4, but also #3 and #7. Economic value comes from the results you deliver, not the effort you put in.
[1] http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photogra...
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michaelprice/10-lies-we-tell-o...