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All managers make mistakes; good managers acknowledge and repair

(terriblesoftware.org)
308 points matheusml | 5 comments | 22 Aug 25 12:50 UTC | HN request time: 0.419s | source
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giancarlostoro ◴[22 Aug 25 13:22 UTC] No.44984357[source]▶
I think this goes for Engineers as well. In fact, I say the biggest skill I want from a SENIOR developer regardless of years of experience is humility. Someone who "cannot do wrong" and is a toxic about it will poison the rest of the team with their toxicity. But the seniors who are more open to feedback even from Junior developers, those are the ones everyone else follows to hell and back because they're there with you through it all so you're there with them through it all too.

We are all humans, not robots. Heck, even the LLMs mess up.

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1. BubbleRings ◴[22 Aug 25 13:56 UTC] No.44984752[source]▶
One thing I watched closely for in interviews is the moment when an applicant said “I don’t know.” I have not had great experiences with tech co-workers who are incapable of saying that.
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2. richardlblair ◴[22 Aug 25 14:15 UTC] No.44984969[source]▶
Yea, this is a great one. I've had a lot of success in the past using the backpack problem / box packing as an interview question for problem solving / pair programming parts of the interview. It has "I don't know" built right in. It also has "I don't know, I'm going to make this decision for now but I expect it's wrong" built in.
3. neilv ◴[22 Aug 25 18:09 UTC] No.44987721[source]▶
Every time someone mentions a good idea for interviews, I imagine the interview prep people adding it to the standard performance ritual. Then the signal is lost for the needle in a haystack who actually embodies what you sought to find.

With how ridiculously performative and disingenuous the techbro interviews have become, if we don't want to play that game, we have to keep some signal unspoken.

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4. giancarlostoro ◴[22 Aug 25 23:25 UTC] No.44991190[source]▶
I willingly say it and tbh if you wont hire me for saying I dont remember or am drawing a blank I am glad, I dodged a bullet. Obviously I dont purposely say it but sometimes you get so nervous it escapes you.
5. giancarlostoro ◴[22 Aug 25 23:50 UTC] No.44991396[source]▶
Yeah being a good interviewer is an art. Some people give up and rely solely on whiteboard / algo questions because it typically guarantees technical skills but does not account for soft skills.