This is so true! I imagine everyone accumulates a story that serves to make this point, but I'm afraid I can't resist sharing mine... 1/

Once, long ago, my manager came to me on a Friday afternoon: "Are you going to be here on Monday?" 2/
Now, this is the 1990s: to work from home, you needed a modem (!!) -- and at the time, I owned no computer so even that wasn't happening. So I was emphatically going to be there on Monday, if for no other reason that I had nowhere else to work. 3/
"Yes, of course I'm going to be here on Monday."
"Okay, we need to talk Monday."
"Is there something wrong? Can we talk now?"
"Let's talk Monday." 4/
My early-twentysomething self was (obviously?) very anxious, so I immediately went to the office of the senior engineer in the group (and my mentor), Jeff Bonwick to see if he knew of anything that I might have screwed up... 5/
Somewhat to my surprise, he was less interested in brainstorming ways in which I might be in trouble -- and much more dismayed at the clumsiness of our manager. "Wait here." He left. 6/
I heard him enter our manager's office several doors down. The walls were thin. I could hear that Bonwick was... emphatic. He was there for a few minutes, and returned: "Now go back to your office." 7/
I went back to my office, and my manager appeared, sheepishly. "Do you, um, have a second to talk now?" Of course I did! 8/
And as it turns out, it was... nothing. It was not that I had even upset anyone (which, um, happened), it was that he needed to ask me a purely technical question. He didn't want to ask me on Friday afternoon because he wanted to start his own weekend early! 9/
It highlighted a couple of things: first, never, ever do this. Do not ruin someone's weekend (or their evening or their morning) letting their minds run wild. If you need to telegraph a meeting like this (which you generally shouldn't!), ALWAYS provide enough context. 10/
This is especially important with engineers who, as worst-case thinkers by nature, are much more likely to run to worst-case outcomes! (And indeed, the best ones are most likely to be most creative this regard!) 11/
So if it's good news, TELL THEM. "Hey, let me know when you have a second; I've got some good news." (It will come as no surprise that those calls get returned very quickly!) 12/
If it's not bad news but rather just a needed conversation on some issue there should be -- as per Seth's comment and the blog entry that it references -- complete context. 13/
If it IS bad news, there should be no telegraphing it, ever: it should be done in person (or over video) -- especially if it's the exceptionally bad news. (Even when "it shouldn't be surprising", this news is always shocking at some level; telegraphing it doesn't help.) 14/
In my case, I was protected by a senior engineer who was willing to act as an advocate, saving me from the mediocre atrocities of poor management. I am deeply grateful for this, and have tried myself to be that senior engineer for others over my career. 15/
Empathy in communication is essential! Always communicate to others the way you yourself would want to be communicated with -- and if in a leadership position, you must be especially mindful of the extra weight that your words (or lack of them!) carry! 16/16

More from For later read

Humans inherently like the act of solidarity. We are social beings. We like to huddle up and be together.
They used this against us.
They convinced us that it was an act of solidarity to flatten the curve, to wear a mask for others, to take the vaccines for others,


and to reach #covidzero for others. They convinced us that this was for the greater good of society.
In reality, this couldn't be further away from the truth. They have divided us and broken the core structure of our society. They have dehumanized us with their masks.

They set us against each other into clans on opposite sides of a spectrum. They have turned us into aggressive beings fighting for our survival. Some of us fear harm from the virus, others fear harm from the vaccine, and yet others fear harm from the attack on our civilization.

We are all on a flight or fight mode. We are all operating under the influence of fear. We must collect ourselves and reflect on what has happened over the last year.
How is this for the greater good of society?

They used a tactical warfare strategy against us.
'Divide and conquer'.
We fell for it.
Now we must become aware of it and fight back.
We must reunite. We must find true solidarity to save our world. To free ourselves. To regain our autonomy.
I shared this on my FB page and asked, can ya really blame him?

I was half kidding. I also assumed someone would think of what I did pretty quickly and waiting for the comment to mention what I assumed was obvious.

The timing. I was sure someone else had thought of it.


But no one did. 20+ comments in people discussed the morality or bad sense or libertarian perspectives. Someone even said I’m thinking about doing that. No one said what I thought was obvious. Have you thought of it? Is it obvious to you?

Here’s a clue...recognize it?


How about this?


The author discusses it with Mike Wallace in 1958

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