55
miau
7y

I was fired from a job where the boss had it in for me. He was a really experienced dev, but he was also very arrogant. He hated me questioning him. I didn't have the evidence nor the "political" clout to back up my criticisms.

It was humbling.

I realised two things:

keeping your mouth shut is often the best approach.

And

my own arrogance was keeping me from getting better, from learning new things. Not just for the company, but for myself.

I want to write better code, make better design decisions, utilise design patterns, actually think about what I'm doing, and be able to justify why I'm doing it.

I want to be able to choose the best tools for the job, not the best tools for me.

I want to be a person that is open to criticisms and I want to be someone who is always ready to learn new things.

Comments
  • 20
    Sounds like some real insight! Seeing yourself honestly even if it's not flattering gives you the power to grow while others protect their ego and keep making the same mistakes over and over. Good luck on your journey!
  • 3
    Enlightment.... epic moment. Just wow.... keep it up...πŸ˜†
  • 10
    Very much disagree that keeping your mouth shut is the best approach. Ask questions, suggest improvements, and you'll learn a lot from it. Stay silent and you won't learn nearly as much. Being arrogant about it is indeed not a good idea though.
  • 0
    +1 m8, except my ex-boss wasn't arrogant :)
  • 3
    Question things until you understand them, argue your point until you are proven wrong, then immediately admit you are wrong and fix your view.
    The last part is the hardest and most humbling thing, but also the most important.
  • 0
    Question everything.
  • 2
    Ask all the questions. How else are you supposed to understand better?

    Boss was a prick. Any good boss will teach you.
  • 0
    Sometimes it's hard to understand that, at the end of our day, we're just supposed to build software. The only thing you can do when you have a strong disagreement with your company is look for another job. The good news is that this experience will help you grow and that this is a great market to be looking for a job
  • 0
    There was a journey for your boss to get to the title of experienced developer. On this journey, he was probably asking a lot. The downside is that on the way, he obviously became arrogant.
    Don't let this kill you and never accept the fact that you shouldn't be asking, cause you should.
    Good luck on your journey!
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