How do you deal with colleagues that argue 45 minutes on a call about a variable name? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by testeronious@lemmy.world to c/cs_career_questions@programming.dev

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This dude is extremely persistent about having irrelevant things his way, and when he doesn't get it, he acts as if it were a personal attack. Do you guys have any argument or method to deal with this kind of people?

I used to say "whatever" and let him have things his way, but as I got more experienced I started to listen more to his arguments and basically respond "this makes no sense" (not with those exact words, of course).

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[-] modeler@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

This is common enough to have a name in several industries. In SW Dev it's called 'bikeshedding'. If you have a name for it, it's easier to call out to your seniors and peers - and you should call this out and help the meeting move on to more useful matters.

I'd suggest informally discussing this with people around you - enough people that you (or someone else) can safely say "let's not get trapped in bikeshedding" in the meeting and getting immediate agreement.

this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024

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