The main feature of our developers

A recent article comparing Russian developers with foreign developers. And I have something to say about this.



This article is reworked from internal instructions that I wrote for newly hired Russian-speaking developers. For Habr adapted, podskoratil and removed overly categorical and obscene phrases. (Let your imagination not regret expressions)
For liveliness illustrate stories from my life.
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In my opinion, this article is the most important thing I've done in my life. Not the most difficult, voluminous or interesting, but important.

I describe here just one feature of Russian developers and the captain in many ways, but this is a key feature that distinguishes our developers, testers and even sound engineers, as it turned out. History Makarevich under the cut.

Next: real stories from my life, a description of the problem, arguments, the English-Russian educational program, as well as a comparison of American, European, Japanese, and our developers from the point of view of the team leader.


I will not write how many years I have been a leading developer, how much experience I have an architect and technical director, and what jokes I have seen in this connection. Not relevant.

Only two circumstances are significant:

1. It so happened that I am a developer. Specially pay attention. I write code every day. Today, yesterday, earlier. The article is NOT about a boss-subordinate relationship.
2. In addition, there is experience in managing a team of developers, both our and non-ours.
   For five years I haven’t had a Russian on a working computer. For uselessness.

And the whole essence of the article describes such a life case:
Once I come to the developer (our developer) and bring a request for a new thing to do-fasten. The thing is, in principle, small, but obviously useful, necessary for the end user, useful, it is not ambiguous from all sides, no doubt. We discuss for about five minutes, I tell you what exactly we need to get. The task is reported, it is clear and crystal clear. Everything, a stage of the report of the task passed.

There is a second pause, and then the developer says that this can not be done. I am surprised. The thing is that this programming is a bit of a completely different area and the developer is an expert in this area, and I am an expert in another. I have no reason not to trust the qualifications of the developer, but I’m a bit taken aback, and I’m interested in the developer, why can't you implement this little thing? After all, I do not see any fundamental difficulties.
For the next five minutes, the developer is trying to somehow justify and find some significant obstacle. The degree of conversation increases. It ends with this dialogue:
“It cannot be done, because it can never be done!”
- Yes, I do not ask why this can not be done! I ask: how to do it ?!

He freaked out a little, he really wanted to say everything he thought to. But to his credit he restrained himself.
He spat on everything, sat down and did the thing himself in a day and a half.

Attention to the screen:
For a day and a half, I figured out in a completely different programming area, found a way to do things (there were no ready-made solutions in Google), wrote the code, tested it and installed it.
The code is not the most ideal, but I'm not ashamed of it, especially since it is stable, reliable and productive. (I think a specialist in that area would do everything in half a day).

This is the main feature of our programmers:
instead of starting to think how to solve a problem, they often start to think why a problem cannot be solved. And the most surprising thing is that in the overwhelming majority of cases our programmer has enough experience and knowledge to solve the problem without really straining even. I do not see anything good in this feature of our programmers, it turns out from all sides a negative feature.

No, this is not a critical look at the problem of our developer. That developer from the example above did not even think to ask the question: do we really need this thing? Or maybe we need this thing in another form? And in this way? I would answer him that I definitely need it, I need it in this form, the simplest form, it was for this purpose that I came personally to verbally tell the details and discuss what would be incomprehensible.

This thing will give the end user these and these possibilities, the user will like it, the user base will grow.

I would explain that this directly means the income of our commercial company in a market economy. I don’t know how in charity foundations (or there in retreats), and commercial companies should make a profit, they are intended for this. I would explain that our director does not have a printing press in the basement to print a bag of money to us for a bonus and a salary, all the money comes from customers. Yes, there is no extra bag of money from Gender either. No, he is not a radish, he simply does not have an extra bag of money. We need to earn a premium. Yes, in the literal sense of the word. We all have to work and create conditions for the client to bring us money. It is from them that the salary and bonus will be!

Yes, I am exaggerating a lot, but our developers often don’t think to link their work directly to the fact that a company is commercial and has to earn money. (And in general, where does the salary come from.)

The following case from my life:
Once I left work early, a little after lunch, around 16:00. And the next day I came to work from the morning later, somewhere at half past twelve. (And what? I have the right and all the things :-)

In general, I go to work and find out that my immediate subordinate-American has fired in my department his immediate subordinate - our programmer (Belarusian). I'm starting to find out what happened. And everything was very similar to the first story. The American came to his immediate subordinate (Belarusian programmer) and brought a new task to that. Good, clear task. Make a new thing. Do not catch some kind of blinking bug, not some kind of dregs or stupidity, but a normal task. Not complicated, but not simple. I am sure that our programmer was able to do it, because he is a real normal programmer, he could do it without straining. No, the programmer was not loaded. In all the stories, the developers were not loaded above their heads, but were engaged in minor projects of reduced importance, time was in bulk.

So the American comes to the subordinate with the task and gets straight, well, a very similar answer to the one I described in the first story.
For an American, this is shock and stupor. It doesn’t fit in his head. How? How is this possible? For an American (as well as a European) it looks quite clear: the employee does not want to work, does not want to earn money for the company! What's happening? Here he worked fine, everything worked fine, earned money and then bang and such parsley! No, the American is not a fool, but quite a competent developer. No, not stupid chief of jokes, and sane timlid.

The American is shocked and he is trying to explain what this thing needs to be done. This thing will bring money. In response, he receives quite logical, slender explanations from our programmer why he will not do this thing. But this is completely in a different plane. Excuses do not channel! American sincerely does not understand how you can not try to solve the problem and refuse to make a new thing for the company. And he would understand if there were direct arguments against a new thing or a method of realization.

It's time to give a small English-Russian educational program:
When we say: We have a problem, the server has dropped., Then this is troubles.
Russian words: Our problems, your problems, problems - do not translate the problem as a problem.
Problem is a fundamental conflict of interest.
Problem in Russian translates as:

• question (which needs to be discussed)
• task (to be solved), task (to be done)
• topic (research in science)

And when we say: I have a problem here, I'll do it in an hour, then these obstacles are difficulties.

And now back to the story:
the American brings the task, our developer tells him that he will not do the task because he is tra-la-la. And if you tell an American here that we have a problem, then his stupor will be deeper.

But sooner or later the American dries out and begins the discussion. From his point of view, the story looks like an absolute nonsense. I said that the American is adequate. And at first he tries to figure out what is going on, asks clarifying questions for this, and even tries to motivate ours to do their work. Our own sees that his arguments are countered by counter-arguments and begins to respond with counter-arguments that he will not do this task. The American is convinced that yes, he does not dream of it and immediately dismisses the Belarusian.

It is not a question: is it difficult to do this thing or just. My last phrase:
- Yes, I do not ask why this can not be done! I ask: how to do it ?!
It looks like it's a stupid prapor commanding. But it's all about it.

Can not make a new thing in general? Well, let's think about how to do it in private, here in this particular! And bring the company money. No ready-made solutions in google? Let's think about how you can do the thing yourself. Is there a solution, but is it ugly? Why, this is beautiful! It's great that there is a solution! Let's first make a simple crutch solution since there are no others and make money for all of us!

For a small web studio, a single new thing can be a matter of life or death. For a grocery software company, this is a lot of money and acceleration up to success or down to bankruptcy and depressiveness. For a giant of the size of Yandex / Google, any, even the smallest web service, an increase in the share by hundredths of a percent is millions!

I confess that I would not dismiss the Belarusian. If I were in the workplace, I would have enlightened him, gently or hard, according to circumstances. If anything, I perfectly know how to dismiss both ours and foreigners. And when I showed up at work, what did I do? Nothing. The American is essentially right; Well, yes, here you can discuss and discuss how cruel he is, but he is right.

I wrote only a farewell letter to the Byelorussian: bye bye, visit, we meet again. I do not know whether history has taught him anything or he still thinks that the American is a radish. The invigorating kick he got, yes.

This story with the Belarusian and American is not unique. Peer to me, the head of the neighboring department, an American, did the same in a similar situation.

Honestly, I do not know the exact reason for this behavior of our programmers (testers, engineers, etc.). It is not even laziness, not a lack of qualifications.
It’s all a cultural issue.

This is how Makarevich describes his work at an English recording studio:

In my opinion, Europeans are isomorphic to the Americans in this regard, only more delicate.
They also wonder how you can refuse to do your job and not make a company profit.

But who is the exact opposite of our developers: so are the Japanese.
In absolutely the same basic data, the Japanese take under the visor, says: "Yes!" And goes to his workplace. Notice, the Japanese absolutely do not know just how difficult the task is in reality, what kind of solution exists, whether there is a solution in nature at all. He just goes to solve the problem. And, as a rule, he finds a solution in two or three days.
Notice, not in the qualification case. Qualifications equally good.
The Japanese have their own joke: they can’t say no. Because they say yes, they go to do and do their work. Successfully mostly.
With this Japanese feature there are a lot of other problems, but this is a separate article (there is a habr).
The minimum that is needed: if the Japanese do not come up with a decision in three days, then interrogate him in detail, find out the current state of affairs and solve the problem together.
In general, the recommendation of the timlids: if there is an opportunity to hire a smart Japanese developer - hire without thinking. Beware of Chinese fakes! :-)

Well, and our developers, testers have such a feature. Moreover, our developers have their own unique advantages and, other things being equal, I would take our developer.
I repeat that I don’t know exactly why this is so, but this is so and this must be taken into account.
And I even know the solution that will work in most cases:
JFDI

If there is someone versed in sociology / psychology or personally acquainted with a sociologist / psychologist, please clarify.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you are minus the karma / article: please write in the comments what exactly you disagree with, this is important for me.

This article is my pain and hope. The quintessence of experience. MANIFESTO. I dream that everyone who can read Russian read this article.

Today I even made a special site in addition:
http: //xn-----6kcfbtd3audiumjf4b2f0cxa2d.xn--p1ai/
(caution, profanity)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to komenty! Let's constructively discuss!
(Typos and technical flaws, please send a personal message).

Long years and prosperity!