Comment by yshui

Okay, I can't believe I am going to defend performance reviews (I hate them with passion), but I actually disagrees with the author's main point. Same accomplishments can be colored good or bad, but that in itself isn't wrong. You could've moved a mountain with a teaspoon, but that's pointless if you don't work for a mountain moving company. i.e. performance isn't just what you have done, but also whether that aligns with the goal of your employer.

(Of course there's the problem where the capitalistic system forces people to work and do things that aren't necessarily aligned with their personal goals and values, just to have a roof over their head and food on their table. But that's a whole different story.)

(And then there's also the problem where people will abuse the review system for their own benefits...)

Exactly.

I've had managers like this. It's a sort of uncontrolled OCD if I'm being honest, particular painful as well if you know it's a kind, deeply well intended person.. unable to control their OCD. People with OCD applied to a technical field can be brilliant superstars, as is the case here. Of course I said, "maybe better if we part ways". And as I left, I got grilled on, let's say by way of example, how the company NAS worked. Then it became me giving a lesson in NAS 101 and simultaneously explaining how the setup was kosher, because he didn't know jack about NAS setup but had deep anxiety there was a problem. It's like asking a surgeon "I don't trust you, how do I know you're a good surgeon" "you need to explain why you're a good surgeon but also explain surgery on the whole to me at the same time because I don't know it".. after that I cried all the way to a better job with full trust.

Now you all think it's bad in tech, now try medicine. They use "360 reviews" and your "boss" is a bureaucratic admin. It's all politics. If you throw a rock, you'll hit ten people who use reviews as weapons. Telling people off face to face is frowned upon. Penting up the rage for the day the review comes, that is the "safe" method to blow off grievances. At point whichever narrative of their grievance becomes hyperbolic. Medicine itself is saturated with sociopaths, type A personalities, OCD, so there's a lot of people with a lot that they get mad about. If the boss wants you to be the fall guy, nothing you can do. If another department decides they don't like you, or they make you the fall guy, your boss will weigh the politics of the situation, and if you're not politically as important as that department, they'll gladly sacrifice you as a pawn towards their goal. I once got written up due to my deep, seething, hatred of women. The person writing it (now a cancer doctor), you see, they did not claim word nor action against women, for I had committed none. They had seen me make eye contact with a male coworker a single time and thought, "why was he not making eye contact with the FEMALE coworker" and went on a long, long rant expanding upon the basis of this event regarding my hatred of women, perhaps due to an innate psychic ability to read my thoughts, or at least that's how it read. In medicine, that writeup is then held against you. I'm a republican now, in part because of this type of culture and the power people can wield playing games such as this.

swagasaurus-rex 10 days ago

You could work for a mountain moving company and your boss could still find issues with how the mountain you moved wasn’t the right height, or had rocks that didn’t quite match the destination.

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fasa99 9 days ago

Exactly.
I've had managers like this. It's a sort of uncontrolled OCD if I'm being honest, particular painful as well if you know it's a kind, deeply well intended person.. unable to control their OCD. People with OCD applied to a technical field can be brilliant superstars, as is the case here. Of course I said, "maybe better if we part ways". And as I left, I got grilled on, let's say by way of example, how the company NAS worked. Then it became me giving a lesson in NAS 101 and simultaneously explaining how the setup was kosher, because he didn't know jack about NAS setup but had deep anxiety there was a problem. It's like asking a surgeon "I don't trust you, how do I know you're a good surgeon" "you need to explain why you're a good surgeon but also explain surgery on the whole to me at the same time because I don't know it".. after that I cried all the way to a better job with full trust.
Now you all think it's bad in tech, now try medicine. They use "360 reviews" and your "boss" is a bureaucratic admin. It's all politics. If you throw a rock, you'll hit ten people who use reviews as weapons. Telling people off face to face is frowned upon. Penting up the rage for the day the review comes, that is the "safe" method to blow off grievances. At point whichever narrative of their grievance becomes hyperbolic. Medicine itself is saturated with sociopaths, type A personalities, OCD, so there's a lot of people with a lot that they get mad about. If the boss wants you to be the fall guy, nothing you can do. If another department decides they don't like you, or they make you the fall guy, your boss will weigh the politics of the situation, and if you're not politically as important as that department, they'll gladly sacrifice you as a pawn towards their goal. I once got written up due to my deep, seething, hatred of women. The person writing it (now a cancer doctor), you see, they did not claim word nor action against women, for I had committed none. They had seen me make eye contact with a male coworker a single time and thought, "why was he not making eye contact with the FEMALE coworker" and went on a long, long rant expanding upon the basis of this event regarding my hatred of women, perhaps due to an innate psychic ability to read my thoughts, or at least that's how it read. In medicine, that writeup is then held against you. I'm a republican now, in part because of this type of culture and the power people can wield playing games such as this.

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