[3flp]

As I've been more in leadership positions over the years, this has been one of my challenges. We all have unproductive days (weeks?). What's interesting: I now work at a company that relies on hard work. I work in product development with significant software component, DSP and other specialties. When one team member does not deliver their part, the whole product is delayed and it becomes very visible. On the other hand, given that most of the stuff we do is new/unique, it is hard to see how much time a task "should" take. Sadly, people ocassionally hide behind this. One recent extreme example: We've hired a supposed senior "gun" that has been in the industry for 20+ years. Then he subsequently failed to deliver basic piece of software in 6 months. After some discussions with him, we realized he lacked even basic fundamentals. Our failing was that we didn't pick up on this during the hiring process. Anyway, someone else had to take over and complete it in a few weeks. This "senior gun" has been bullshitting his way through decades of career.. Btw, the companies that he worked for are failing (or failed already), so there's that indicator. My point is - developer's productivity can have a huge impact, depending on what the business is. I would hate to be working in a job where my work (or lack of) has no impact..