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RE: How to deal with a one upper? - reuben.ahmed - 10-07-2017
I'm also a software developer and have worked for about 20 different companies in 10 years (consulting), but have also had the same coworkers a few times.
The worst thing in software development is to be a know it all, especially if they come off as unfriendly on top of that. Sometimes the know it alls are friendly.
I know I've taken notes for other developers before, hoping it would help them. I also do some things that are a one-up feeling to others, but I think it's sometimes a friendly rivalry/competition between coworkers. Similar to sports, when I see my teammate do something extra or over and above, I want to match or exceed - there are some of us like that out there, lol. I think it's just competitive instinct, even though we help each other out/etc.
You would think when AJ Green does something good it probably inspires the rest of the WR core to say, I can do that too. Same if/when he works out early and late, he's not one-upping, he's challening himself to be better and also doesn't want someone else on his team to be above him - he wants to be the best in the league.
He might be like me, where he considers all of his coworkers smarter than him and has to work hard just to feel like he's matching them. I don't act like I know everything though.
Either way have to find a way to deal with it, a poor work environment is one reason to change jobs.
I work from home exclusively now and I can tell you that it's in your best interest (career wise, and your company) to limit meetings. The efficiency drop is annoying as hell and sometimes you have to be selfish and say "I don't see this helping my career". I was stuck in a 4-6 hour meetings a day phase where they also expected 8 hours of work (13 points a sprint). I did that for a year and then said "bye bye". What am I supposed to put, "Gud at meetings" on my resume? All project management BS.
There are a variety of work cultures out there, most of them get it very wrong - sticking 20 developers in a barrel, with daily standups and "I'll check on you later this afternoon" type bullshit, as if development is linear. It's tough to run agile when most people don't understand it.
I remember telling a couple developers at one of my later consulting gigs that "this is one of the worst places I've worked for, I wouldn't ever work here if they tried to hire me, you guys need to get out" - lol. Two months later they were both gone!
RE: How to deal with a one upper? - Shake n Blake - 10-07-2017
Ah, the one upper. Closely related to the snitch, the brown noser, and the yes man. These types usually care more about how they appear to the boss than actually being good at what they do. They're literally everywhere, even in the military...so there's really no escaping it.
I've seen some good advice in here. Namely "just be good at what you do". Not only does this keep you in good standing with your boss, it's sure to irritate the snitch/brown noser/one upper. If you have the type of boss you can speak freely with, you can always give him/her a head's up, and maybe they'll check the guy. If you can get a couple coworkers to cosign that the guy is an ass, even better.
RE: How to deal with a one upper? - Awful Llama - 10-07-2017
(09-22-2017, 04:24 PM)PhilHos Wrote: In all seriousness, hit on him. Be subtle about it, but make it clear that you like him like him and you could be DTF.
(09-23-2017, 09:56 AM)HarleyDog Wrote: Get him wasted. Always worked for me.
These two ideas should work in concert.
I think maybe it's akin to that old advice about how you don't argue with an idiot because they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. Works for one-uppers too, I'd wager.