Tags
I just never quite understood why the word just can send people over the top. I
get it when you don't know someone, you don't have history with them, and they
come in saying you are doing something wrong.
When you say "just," you're skipping over all the invisible complexity. You're assuming the problem is simple, and that the person asking for help hasn't already considered the obvious.
You're not seeing the constraints:
Legacy code Business requirements Team conventions Time, budget, or technical debt Platform limitations
If I've worked with someone for more than 6 months, we have established patterns for problems, libraries we use, and they are deep in the weeds of trying to fix something, I want to ask "Why don't you just do the same thing we do everywhere else?"
I don't need a snarky ass response, I don't need you to get bent out of shape about it. I am communicating that I do not know the damn constraints to this problem. I am communicating I am ignorant to the pain you have suffered trying to do something for days that I thought should be copy paste pr up in 10 minutes.
What I want to hear is "Well here's the story of why this particular one is complex, and let me take you on my travels." or "I'm about there and don't have time right now just understand that this is different, we can discuss later."
My just should not cause you pain, it should not cause you to feel belittled, If we have worked together for any amount of time and have respect for each other, you should understand that this is not coming from a place of belittlement, rather its an open door for you to explain why this thing is not what it seems at surface level.
Just use another library #
Here Sam asks "Why don't you just use another library?", and Alex replies "If it were that easy, I would have done it already."
Honestly this example is a little vague and non-specific. On boarding a new library to a team can be a big ask. It becomes something that the team has to integrate and depend on, and take on supply chain risk. This example would be better with something more specific, if the team often uses a mix of SQL, pandas, and occasionally pulls out polars for bigger tasks, Sam might legitimately ask "why don't you just use <insert pandas, polars, SQL>".
This communicates that Sam see's the obvious we use polars when things get tough, or we use SQL when data transfer gets too slow.
You are not Dumb #
I want to hear the story. In no way am I calling you dumb, in fact I'm probably claiming ignorance to the problem at hand. I see that you have a lot more time invested than me and I'm offering help, not asking for snarky ass remarks back Alex.
In fact take it as a sign that I am this comfortable with you and that you are so far from dumb that I don't have to risk being taken out of context.
Or maybe you are #
Or maybe Sam is trying to belittle Alex here, if that's the case we need to have a conversation and work some shit out or find somewhere else to be, Alex should not be belittled like this because Sam is full of himself.
Suggestions #
The suggestions are fine, but they feel like they are asking me to hunt around for the problem rather than you recognizing my ignorance to the issue, and let Sam tell me "Why don't you just use another library?"
Final Thoughts #
In recognizing how much pain this causes others I do try to limit my use of just, it comes out from time to time, though I try not to. I try to remain kind, humble, and helpful. And typically in the first few weeks or months interaction with new teams/people I kinda walk on eggshells for a bit. I don't know you or where you are, if I make it sound like you are dumb and turns out that's what people think of you I'm gonna feel kinda bad. Just understand that not everyone is trying to attack you, communication via text is hard, give folks a break before jumping them.
Don't be an Ass #
This post is not trying to say that you can freely belittle your team, go forth and be the irritating guy on the team that comes off like a know it all. I'm saying when you are on the receiving end try not to take it with such offense and as an opportunity to explain without the need to dance around the issue.