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Agree with you on the shareholder POV but for the software, that’s every company everywhere since it’s just the nature of software at the moment, none of it is perfect and won’t ever be as long as an imperfect being is programming it.
Well I do what I can in my positions to improve that. That is within my reach, and that's my goal.
I can't always succeed. It's not like I ever get to talk to end users to ask what would make their lives easier. But that's my goal. I just had to fight for some UI changes that I think make the UI easier to understand and interact with and reduce code maintenance burden / fragility by relying on default control behaviors instead of custom code. Time will tell if I'm right.
I also fight back against the acceptability of 10 second response times when you click a button. Customers would never accept that, but you're going to foist that bullshit on users? Not on my watch.
And in code reviews I push back on every mutable or public field and public method that don't have to be. Don't give other code the ability to interact with your code outside of clearly defined interfaces. Build everything with concurrency in mind and to fail fast. Because a year from now, some other developer is going to abuse every interaction point they possibly can because tight coupling saves them an hour.
Even though so much is out of my hands in a cooperate environment, I take pride in the things I can control, and eventually I think that pays off. I'm 51. I'm not going to continue getting new contracts forever. I need a place to ride out the waning years of my career and I don't want to do it working on shitty software that I allowed to be shit.
What I really want is a way to push that philosophy beyond a single team, but I don't want to be in management, and I don't know how to make that happen. I did get offered a training position, but it paid half what I earn slinging code, and I'd be creating more value, not less.
Part of succeeding in corporate (and not hating work life) is knowing who to go to to get stuff changed. Even companies with shitty culture still want to improve things since that usually makes the profit go up. Using their own greed to improve things is a manipulative art. If you’re doing that already then congratulations! Most just wallow in their situation instead of changing it (which is in their control).
The best you can do is look for a company who has a great work culture. Then you can really help foster change without being in management since management will be open to better ways of doing things and should actually listen. At least if your idea is shot down you usually get the why behind it and are now apart of the chain of decision making, giving you ownership.
Just don’t get suckered into a company that says they have a great culture without actually having one. Read their mission/culture statement. Missing servant leadership? Missing customers and employees at the core of what they do? Talk most about shareholder value? Talk about intense training? Red flag city. Avoid if you can.
Sorry if I’m on an unrelated tangent to what you’re experiencing. I ran into this the other day with an interviewee and holy hell, I could see why he was getting out of that type of company. Utter BS culture statement.
I appreciate your perspective. I'm cautiously hopeful that the culture is good, but it's a big enough company (major auto manufacturer) that it likely depends on what part of the company you're in. I'm angling for a perm hire after a year in this department because I'd like to foster a longer term relationship both ways.
I don't know the structure well enough. My own manager seems.... fine. He listened a couple of times when I was trying to solve some problems and my tech lead wasn't. But he's not the person to make waves and get shit done. He's very much go along to get along, but he's easy to work with. As a contractor, I don't think I can go around him, politically, but maybe once I have some real time in and a permanent position.
Thanks again!