It's you. It was me a while ago when I finally realized that I am only projecting my anxiety by not having solutions to problems out of my domain. In the past I used to tag business decisions "good" or "bad" on: 1. Tentative technical implementation issues when the decision hits the work floor 2. Conjecture about those business decisions based upon hearsay and blog posts. I have worked in about 4 startups(including the current one) Only when I attempted my own start-up(and miserably failed) did I realize the unreliability of taking such business decisions. For e.g: I have a new product in a virgin market. How should I price it"? One shot or iterate? Or Long sight or short sight? As programmers we expect our employers to empathize with our work, it's only fair that you show the same empathy back to your employers. Now instead of snickering and bitching about it, I try to calm my anxiety by putting myself in the shoes of the decision-taker. If I am still not satisfied, I attempt to resolve it by asking for an open discussion. More often than not I am able to empathize with the decision-taker. Taking the "Archer" way of doing things, i.e thinking about problems when they actually occur has certainly made me happier and more productive.
I may indeed have been to long to show my concern. You are correct. However, in my mental process, I have tried many times to show empathy towards management, placing myself in their shoes and trying to realise the anxiety that they must be feeling. Yet, I can't make myself to accept choices I do not respect. I may be a pretentious prick but I just have a way of seeing things.
Indeed I wouldn't be talking this way if I didn't have the luxury of changing job whenever I wanted and I do realise my luck here.
Well then maybe you are choosing the bad ones. I felt the same way you did before my current company. So when looking for a new job, this time I evaluated both the project and the people behind it. I rejected several offers at seemingly good projects with not so good people. My first filter was: What does the prospective employer expects from me? Does he think I am a magic wand? If he thinks I am a magic wand, he would pay me a nice salary but would get petty later when I do not come up to his expectations. Second filter: Does the employer continues communicating with me in business-lingo when I am consistently requesting for more clarity in standard English. Third filter: (if the employer is from a technical background) Is she vengeful/petty/disrespectful when challenged on a technical query. Especially when I maybe wrong.
"I can't make myself to accept choices I do not respect."
I've been in your shoes.
I confronted the GM (my boss) because I completely disagreed with how things were being done/decided. I feel it was mostly do to a lack of communication and not seeing/knowing some due diligence was being performed by him. I can't respect and blindly follow decisions if I don't feel/believe that the risks have been honestly and truly considered. Show me you thought about the risks and the trade offs and it's easier for me to go along.
EDIT: He gained a lot of respect from me when/since he didn't can me for confronting him.
