How Not to Get Ahead in Your Work 5

[NL8]

I would love to tell you a story about having just such a question asked of me by a Sales guy, about the difference in two items of our product line, which had a technical answer (that was the only one), but rule one about posting in a public forum is to never say anything that you wouldn't be willing to say to the individual's face. Especially if your online presence can be easily traced.

Joe Hasik,
CSWP/SMTL/MTLS
SW 10 x64, SP 3.0
Dell T3400
Intel Core2 Quad
Q6700 2.66 GHz
3.93 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600

 

[ianmcdz]

I think Dilbert is the perfect model on how not to get ahead.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

When my insurance agent showed up to a group sales meeting sporting a new very expensive sports car - I got a new insurance agent and privately TOLD HIM WHY - as did a number of other people.

I suggested he drive it on weekends - not while trying to sell insurance to a group of very hard working and not so wealthy clients.

 

[GregLocock]

Soo who should get ahead if not Dilbert? Alice, Ted, Wally, or Asok? And which of them would be promoted to the new supervisory position?



Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[debodine]

Wally is clearly destined for senior leadership. He is also my role model even though I have no desire to ever move into management.

 

[MagnetDave]

<I>Engineers often come across as rude and arrogant because they don't open their mouths unless they are talking about something they understand. There's no bluff and bulls'it, just things they know to be true. </I>

Truer words were never spoken. The humble engineer engineer is the one who keeps quiet unless they know exactly what they are saying. The humble person is the one who lays all their doubts on the table and invites others to doubt them. In a non-engineering context, only saying things that you are immovably certain about is anything but humble.

Pardon me as print that quote off and frame it...

 

[HgTX]

Oh, please. There are ways to be smart and confident without coming across as rude or arrogant. If you come across as rude and arrogant, it's not just because you know what you're talking about. It's because you have poor social skills and can't figure out how to be smart without making others look stupid. The real top dogs, the mentors to their respective industries, do know how to do this, and do it well.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[MagnetDave]

Hg,

That's not in dispute. You have to diagnose the problem before you can treat it...

 

[SteveMartin]

I know plenty of engineers (as well as other people) who can be rude & arrogant without knowing what they're talking about.

Actually, I wish I could find some of Somting's engineers that only open their mouth to speak truth. I don't think I've met one yet. I've met good engineers (and bad), but like all people engineers have a range of personality - bluff & bluster or lack thereof is not a required trait of the profession.

One of the most skilled engineers I've met was prone to put forth his opinion on any design topic as proven fact without any evidence to back it up. If it was in his (fairly large) range of expertise I never knew him to be found wrong... problem is he didn't always stop at putting forth opinion as fact beyond his areas of expertise, and if you didn't know him you wouldn't be able to tell when he was talking outside his knowledge.