[This probably works best with three speakers, each taking one part.]
Narrator: You’d be surprised of how much of management, consulting, teaching, senior ICing, etc is:
New: “I want to X.”
Old: “Have you written down a plausible plan to get to X with steps listed in order?”
New: “No.”
Old: “Alright let’s sketch it. OK step one: are you going to do it?”
New: “Why would I do that?”
Narrator: Generally the person doesn’t sound that silly or pathologically helpless in the meeting. Sometimes they are a committee of extremely intelligent people, because only a large and well-resourced organization acting in concert can reach the heights of no-agency-exists-anywhere.
Narrator: I have scheduled a performance review for the director of hiring people who manage people that do feasibility studies into best practices for doing step one! I deserve a promotion! Again, doesn’t sound quite that silly when you’re spending literally tens of millions doing it.
Narrator: While I’m on the subject of questions not asked.
Old: “How do you plan to X?”
New: “I don’t know.”
Old: “Have you read how to X?”
New: “Nothing responsive on Google.”
Old: “Has anyone ever Xed before?”
New: “Probably yes.”
Old: “Have you talked to them about X?”
New: “Talked to who?”
Old: “Seriously name one person any…”
New: “Well I suppose this team at this company might have Xed.”
Old: “Great who leads that team go talk to them.”
New: “I don’t know who leads that team.”
Old: “And you searched LinkedIn and Twitter before telling me that because of course you would.”
New: “LOL what.”
Old: “OK in future that is a thing.”
Old: “But today OK let’s navigate that org by starting with one well-placed person inside of it. Literally anyone works.”
New: “Can you intro me to them?”
Old:“Quite plausibly but this is a really important skill can you find one person who works there.”
New: “Uhh I could email customer service.”
Old: “Wow I am impressed that is actually the tiniest possible spark of greatness. But could you start somewhere more efficient than going through CS like say a staff engineer.”
New: “I don’t know any.”
Old: “Does GitHub or YouTube or any conference speaker list or…”
New: “OK supposing I can name someone then what.”
Old: “Send an email.”
New: “What should that email say?”
Old: “It can say so many things, but two important ones are your name and that you want to talk about their experiences with X.”
New: “Will they want to talk about X.”
Old: “Likely; we will read reply.”
-https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1739801838386336007
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