How to survive in a corporate culture if you are an introvert programmer
The modern world of corporations creates ideal conditions for work and promotion, if you are ambitious, active, sociable, easily make new acquaintances, know how to maintain relationships with management ... The list goes on and on, but it is clear that only extroverts can call this world ideal .
What about those who are well versed in their business, work hard and constantly improve themselves, but prefer not to shout about it at every corner? Today, we will deal with how company policies can make life difficult for you, and what to do if you consider yourself an introvert.
/ Photo by Francis Bourgouin / CC
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There is a widespread stereotype that most programmers are laconic and generally introverted in nature. This opinion is shared by some scientists, for example, German psychologist and programmer Timo Gnambs (Timo Gnambs) conducted a study where he linked the propensity to programming with some character traits, among which is introversion.
Perhaps the behavior of programmers is related to the specifics of the work - the need to focus on solving a problem explains why programmers often behave extremely "quietly". In addition, in order to understand the task, the programmer must listen carefully (a little about it on Quora ), and not chat.
However, there is another opinion: in order to survive in the realities of modern corporations, programmers need the features of extroverts. Especially if you count on career growth. The idea is that communication with the higher management makes the specialist more “visible”, despite the level of knowledge and experience. Each of you knows many such examples, and not only from the field of programming.
Jeffrey Nelson, developer of Google Chrome, believes that the most vivid example in this situation is Steve Jobs himself, who “has not written a single line of code since 1978,” and has achieved not only career growth, but also world-wide fame. At the same time, not everyone knows, for example, Dennis Ritchie (Dennis Ritchie), who participated in the development of C and Unix.
Very often, corporate culture or the office itself is designed for extroverts. For an introvert, self description of vacancies is a pain. Usually they look like this: “A dedicated and ambitious person is required, able to reveal his talents in our creative team.” And no matter whether the company is looking for a programmer or sales person, the wording will be about the same.
Most recently, we noticed a material on Habré in which the author shared his experience of moving to a Dutch IT company. The slogan in this company was: “Friends. Openness, Honesty, Directness. " The question arises as to how new the introvert really is to join such a team, where everyone should be "friends" at once.
The author also tells about meetings where team members should evaluate each other. Moreover, the estimates are not just exhibited, but are actively discussed, while the “victim” should sit humbly, listen to everything with a friendly smile and be actively interested in how to improve their work. Agree, a dubious pleasure for an introvert.
Open office and daily meetings, the requirement of constant expression of your friendly attitude (you still need to guess what they want from you) and an estimate of the amount of time you spend in the office. They won’t think up something for “increasing the level of productivity” of the team, although sometimes it’s quite easy to work a couple of days from home (useful for extroverts).
Another practice that exists in IT companies is mob programming. Introverts can be quite difficult for people to adapt to this way of working. They find it easier to work in small groups or separately, and they show the best results when they work with the code themselves, and not when they have to explain and prove the correctness of their point of view. On the other hand, such work, as well as pair programming, gives you the opportunity to gain more knowledge, overcome your fears and quickly join the team.
Contribute to the adaptation and take care of the comfortable work of each employee can the manager, who must understand who is better to work in a team, and to whom - in splendid isolation. Sometimes it’s worth canceling daily meetings, which for most are just a waste of time. Individual approach allows you to communicate with programmers separately, which increases the level of comfort for them and the degree of awareness of the manager, who manages to better understand the problems of a specialist.
A manager who understands the introvertive nature of his subordinate and does not try to control every step is a rarity, and usually he doesn’t care if you prefer to work on your own or in a team, is it comfortable for you to speak in public and listen to criticism for all or for? it is easier for you to settle work issues individually.
Moreover, you need to be prepared for the fact that managers rarely go forward and can shift the blame on the executives, regardless of how adequate the task was and how much detail it was explained.
But not all corporations are evil. Often it happens in a different perception. Somewhere it is allowed to work in slippers and there is no strict dress code, which creates a comfortable and even homely atmosphere. However, others may prefer the formal approach, which allows you to stay focused on work.
Only you decide to accept or find a more suitable company. The third option is to change yourself and adapt to the corporate environment. For example, you can gradually expand your social circle, gain credibility by offering help to colleagues and asking for help yourself to make contact.
If your attitudes and character do not coincide with the company's policy, this does not mean that you are doomed to failure. For example, Philip Richard (Phillip Richard), the creator of WorkingQuietly.com, left the extrovert-oriented IT company and started his own business (see “Should I do it?” In the source ).
Therefore, sometimes it is worth simply changing the place of work and the world will play with bright colors. In very difficult cases, a change of profession can help, so introverters who do not like to communicate with people at all are advised to familiarize themselves with a selection of "the best professions for people who hate people."
What about those who are well versed in their business, work hard and constantly improve themselves, but prefer not to shout about it at every corner? Today, we will deal with how company policies can make life difficult for you, and what to do if you consider yourself an introvert.
/ Photo by Francis Bourgouin / CC
')
There is a widespread stereotype that most programmers are laconic and generally introverted in nature. This opinion is shared by some scientists, for example, German psychologist and programmer Timo Gnambs (Timo Gnambs) conducted a study where he linked the propensity to programming with some character traits, among which is introversion.
Perhaps the behavior of programmers is related to the specifics of the work - the need to focus on solving a problem explains why programmers often behave extremely "quietly". In addition, in order to understand the task, the programmer must listen carefully (a little about it on Quora ), and not chat.
However, there is another opinion: in order to survive in the realities of modern corporations, programmers need the features of extroverts. Especially if you count on career growth. The idea is that communication with the higher management makes the specialist more “visible”, despite the level of knowledge and experience. Each of you knows many such examples, and not only from the field of programming.
Jeffrey Nelson, developer of Google Chrome, believes that the most vivid example in this situation is Steve Jobs himself, who “has not written a single line of code since 1978,” and has achieved not only career growth, but also world-wide fame. At the same time, not everyone knows, for example, Dennis Ritchie (Dennis Ritchie), who participated in the development of C and Unix.
How corporate culture makes life difficult
Very often, corporate culture or the office itself is designed for extroverts. For an introvert, self description of vacancies is a pain. Usually they look like this: “A dedicated and ambitious person is required, able to reveal his talents in our creative team.” And no matter whether the company is looking for a programmer or sales person, the wording will be about the same.
Most recently, we noticed a material on Habré in which the author shared his experience of moving to a Dutch IT company. The slogan in this company was: “Friends. Openness, Honesty, Directness. " The question arises as to how new the introvert really is to join such a team, where everyone should be "friends" at once.
The author also tells about meetings where team members should evaluate each other. Moreover, the estimates are not just exhibited, but are actively discussed, while the “victim” should sit humbly, listen to everything with a friendly smile and be actively interested in how to improve their work. Agree, a dubious pleasure for an introvert.
Open office and daily meetings, the requirement of constant expression of your friendly attitude (you still need to guess what they want from you) and an estimate of the amount of time you spend in the office. They won’t think up something for “increasing the level of productivity” of the team, although sometimes it’s quite easy to work a couple of days from home (useful for extroverts).
Another practice that exists in IT companies is mob programming. Introverts can be quite difficult for people to adapt to this way of working. They find it easier to work in small groups or separately, and they show the best results when they work with the code themselves, and not when they have to explain and prove the correctness of their point of view. On the other hand, such work, as well as pair programming, gives you the opportunity to gain more knowledge, overcome your fears and quickly join the team.
Manager - all over the head?
Contribute to the adaptation and take care of the comfortable work of each employee can the manager, who must understand who is better to work in a team, and to whom - in splendid isolation. Sometimes it’s worth canceling daily meetings, which for most are just a waste of time. Individual approach allows you to communicate with programmers separately, which increases the level of comfort for them and the degree of awareness of the manager, who manages to better understand the problems of a specialist.
A manager who understands the introvertive nature of his subordinate and does not try to control every step is a rarity, and usually he doesn’t care if you prefer to work on your own or in a team, is it comfortable for you to speak in public and listen to criticism for all or for? it is easier for you to settle work issues individually.
Moreover, you need to be prepared for the fact that managers rarely go forward and can shift the blame on the executives, regardless of how adequate the task was and how much detail it was explained.
But not all corporations are evil. Often it happens in a different perception. Somewhere it is allowed to work in slippers and there is no strict dress code, which creates a comfortable and even homely atmosphere. However, others may prefer the formal approach, which allows you to stay focused on work.
Only you decide to accept or find a more suitable company. The third option is to change yourself and adapt to the corporate environment. For example, you can gradually expand your social circle, gain credibility by offering help to colleagues and asking for help yourself to make contact.
If your attitudes and character do not coincide with the company's policy, this does not mean that you are doomed to failure. For example, Philip Richard (Phillip Richard), the creator of WorkingQuietly.com, left the extrovert-oriented IT company and started his own business (see “Should I do it?” In the source ).
Therefore, sometimes it is worth simply changing the place of work and the world will play with bright colors. In very difficult cases, a change of profession can help, so introverters who do not like to communicate with people at all are advised to familiarize themselves with a selection of "the best professions for people who hate people."
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/317940/
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