Thread by @mipsytipsy

"Technical problems are hard, but people problems are harder."

Do you hear this a lot? I hear it *everywhere* these days. I'm probably even guilty of saying it once or twice, despite the fact that it annoys the bejeezus out of me.

[Thread, with illustrations]

And I remember feeling genuinely insulted by it as an engineer. Here I am working my ass off to solve hard problems on deadline, while managers saunter in for a few hours of meetings, and then on top of that they're gonna call their jobs *harder* than mine?! Sincerely fuck you.

"People problems are harder" (PPAH) often felt like an affirmative action conspiracy for mediocre technologists and paper pushers.

That's why I don't repeat the phrase any more. All people problems are not harder than all technical problems. There's a vast range of overlap.

Let's start with a graph of count(*) problems over difficulty, from low to high. Most problems are easy ones. (graph 1)

So we automate them away. That leaves us with graph 2, a count of the problems we actually spend our time on.

Now let's break it down by people problems and technical problems.

And sure: the hardest people problems will always be harder than the hardest technical problems, because people are more complicated machines.

But the easiest people problems are much, much easier than the easiest technical problems, because we start training those skill sets in infancy.

Whereas we don't start learning db internals until we are comparatively much older and dumber.

Besides, the best engineers (and managers) spend a lot of effort trying very hard *not* to have hard problems.

You are welcome to quibble with my super-scientific data, but I guess my point is this: any time you claim your work is harder, you're kinda being a dick.

And clearly the ACTUAL hardest work comes from the intersection of people problems and technical problems, which is why I continue to love the shit out of senior tech leads and line managers who stay close to the code. I see you, I adore you, goddess bless 🙏🌿

p.s. don't let anyone tell you that's not a real career, it's the realest path there is if you truly love both technology and people and having lots of impact.

I stand by this: charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the…