> In other words, immature engineers are too inflexible about their taste. They know what they like, but they mistake that liking for a principled engineering position.
I have come across this although I think quite experienced engineers can suffer from this kind of immaturity.
Aeons ago I used to help friends with their Computer Science assignments. I remember the temptation to rewrite their code because I didn't like the way it worked. I would start to do so and then, eventually, think that it was going to take ages and be unrecognisable to them. How could I help them by rejecting everything they thought?
I'd think about it again and realise that they weren't idiots - their approach probably could work with a couple of adjustments. I helped them make those adjustments and they were happy because they could understand the result.
After that I would find that my own way of thinking about the problem had changed and my own code would get much better from having seen the problem from a different angle. I should really have been the one thanking them.
I am still like this - still prejudiced - but in the back of my mind I know it and when I'm being sensible I remember to try to give the other viewpoint a proper chance and be happy when it really turns out to have more merit.
Principles are a bit subjective and if you lean on them all the time without thought it's a sort of laziness - you're not really examining the situation and what it merits.
I have come across this although I think quite experienced engineers can suffer from this kind of immaturity.
Aeons ago I used to help friends with their Computer Science assignments. I remember the temptation to rewrite their code because I didn't like the way it worked. I would start to do so and then, eventually, think that it was going to take ages and be unrecognisable to them. How could I help them by rejecting everything they thought?
I'd think about it again and realise that they weren't idiots - their approach probably could work with a couple of adjustments. I helped them make those adjustments and they were happy because they could understand the result.
After that I would find that my own way of thinking about the problem had changed and my own code would get much better from having seen the problem from a different angle. I should really have been the one thanking them.
I am still like this - still prejudiced - but in the back of my mind I know it and when I'm being sensible I remember to try to give the other viewpoint a proper chance and be happy when it really turns out to have more merit.
Principles are a bit subjective and if you lean on them all the time without thought it's a sort of laziness - you're not really examining the situation and what it merits.