| > over the years I’ve learned in this industry that 90% or more of coworkers and managers are not going to put the same effort into it. What's worse to me, is the <5% (<1%?) that just actively refuse to communicate. I work with one of these right now, and it is frustrating beyond belief. I feel like conversations usually start with claims that are hard to believe, and completely unsubstantiated. Like Occam's Razor points in the complete opposite direction. Requests for evidence to back the claim up are usually deflected ("look I've been looking at this for quite a while now") or can't be provided ("I don't have the data right now" — and it will never be provided, even at a later date. The request is ignored or forgotten about. But inevitably, we should press on making a decision on the unsubstantiated claim!) And half the time, it feels like the unsubstantiated claim, even if true … literally wouldn't matter? Like, it's then applied in a non-sequitur argument of "unsubstantiated claim A, so we should do B" where there's no logical reasoning that A should lead to B. Almost all of the time, the amount of words or text involved is just huge, like volumes and volumes of it, using terms that nobody else would use (because, IMO, they haven't taken the time to learn the systems we use…) and most of it, to my ear, sounds like bull. Just nonsense. Direct questions are usually just ignored, so trying to just ask clarifying questions will get one nowhere. Even simple stuff, like yes/no inquiries, so stuff like "how much space does X require?" are again answered in paragraphs of meaningless gibberish. That these individuals work in an engineering profession just even further boggles my mind. The most charitable view I feel like I can take is that they feel like I'm attacking them (by pointing out their position is bad) and it's one giant alpha-male fight after that, when really I just don't care about that? (at the end of the day, we could both get promoted? it's not like there's some limitation there) and really I'm just looking to get solid data to help make a good decision, and what I'm getting back just doesn't. make. sense. It's so hard to describe in a HN comment, since these individuals are just so irrational from my point of view. Like, "fails the Turing test" … interactions seem more like a bad or aggressive Markov chain rather than a thinking person… |
In public, you just have to put a stake in the ground as delicately as you can. Something like: "All our research showed that A is the best way to go. We have not seen this data that B is better, so we continue to recommend A." At least then baseless assertions aren't standing entirely unchallenged.
Privately, you may be able to gently escalate the issue... Reminding Mr X's boss or another interested party that you never received the information Mr X promised, and hint at your doubts of the veracity of Mr X's claims.
> it's then applied in a non-sequitur argument of "unsubstantiated claim A, so we should do B" where there's no logical reasoning that A should lead to B.
Any chance Mr X is very familiar and comfortable with "B", and much less with "A"? I have seen this kind of behavior with some people, who don't want to put in the effort to learn something new, or are deathly afraid looking incompetent. The result can be an extremely unpleasant personality.