I’ve noticed this trait with at least three coworkers and two other people I know.
If they have an idea in their head, it gets stuck there and nearly impossible to dislodge. You can talk to them, explain very clearly in a way that people far less intelligent than them can understand, they will tell you that they understand you, and then BAM! its back. And when you bring it up, they look at you confused as if you never had the lengthy explanation with them in the first place.
The boring details…
We have teams of people who work on computers. To simplify things, lets just say they are Macs, Dells, and HPs. A bunch of people can belong to the “HP Day” group and another bunch of people can belong to the “Dell Night” group, etc. Each GROUP is a subset of a larger group. For example, “HP Day,” HP Evening," and HP Night," are all subsets of a larger group called “HP.”
The point of confusion is that the larger group is actually titled “Product.” So when people talk about having a “product filter,” they want to look at only members of that particular collection of people. I figured this out by looking at the spreadsheet, but further confirmed my understanding by at least 4 different managers who work in this department. This coworker has been present in all of those meetings, has access to the spreadsheet, and has had me explain it to him a bagillion times.
After a couple of months, he still doesn’t fucking get it. Since the beginning he assumed that “product” meant the product they are working on for a particular ticket, not the team that they belong to. I simply can’t get that idea out of his fucking head.
Why don’t you stop banging your head against a wall, rename the larger group to something other than “product,” and then discuss in terms of that term so it’s not confusing?
If they have an idea in their head, it gets stuck there and nearly impossible to dislodge. You can talk to them, explain very clearly in a way that people far less intelligent than them can understand, they will tell you that they understand you, and then BAM! its back. And when you bring it up, they look at you confused as if you never had the lengthy explanation with them in the first place.
I simply can’t get that idea out of his fucking head.
They are either willfully not cooperating OR they don’t get it. Either way, its something you need to manage. My gut feeling is that a bunch of tech employees are not organizing to screw around with the company / management (unless its a really toxic workplace?)
More likely they don’t get it.
If you’ve explained it several times, and they still don’t get it (but are generally smart), then the problem is likely with how you explain it. Consider the possibility that you may be stuck in your way of viewing the setup and that’s not how their brains work. You may need to change the language and/or the way you present it. Have you offered a flow-chart with the process? Some people work better with visuals.
Have you asked someone who gets ‘it’ but also speaks their ‘language’ to explain it?
If you’ve explained it several times, and they still don’t get it (but are generally smart), then the problem is likely with how you explain it. Consider the possibility that you may be stuck in your way of viewing the setup and that’s not how their brains work. You may need to change the language and/or the way you present it. Have you offered a flow-chart with the process? Some people work better with visuals.
Have you asked someone who gets ‘it’ but also speaks their ‘language’ to explain it?
WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER…
They are stuck with their concept, and you are stuck with your way of describing it, You both need change, best option find another person who generally thinks and talks different then you, and have them explain it. (Often this other person will be someone you struggle with cause you think different/ talk different… but thats exactly what you need here).
Believe me, I’ve thought of that, but its not my data.
Why don’t you stop banging your head against a wall, rename the larger group to something other than “product,” and then discuss in terms of that term so it’s not confusing?
I have a ton of experience with quants most of whom are on the spectrum. They’re really good at math.
Yes, this guy is a great programmer. I just find this to be a bizarre trait that I’ve now seen in several people. It would be like if you, for some strange reason, thought my name was Bob, and I told you it was Barry and corrected you several times, but you still think it is Bob, and then you actually argue with me over what my name is, even though its MY name.
Its like working with a computer with a bad input.
I don’t doubt that you are correct. The frustration is that I don’t have access to all of the inputs. I have an excel output that tells me that what he is doing is wrong and I’m trying my hardest to explain it to him. The problem I have is that every time I walk him through it, he says, “Yes, I understand,” but what he’s really saying is, “I already understand and I’m not even paying attention to you,” and then 5 minutes later he says something that makes it clear that he didn’t understand.
We had someone two years ago that was so freaking bad that I had to spend hours writing up step by step instructions, including exactly how to check her work. This was for a woman who’s almost 60. At some point you expect to be able to hand someone a project, give them a general idea of how to do it, and then say, “Figure out the details on your own and, pretty please with sugar on top, get RIGHT answers.”
They are stuck with their concept, and you are stuck with your way of describing it,…
Dav, I have tried a million different ways to describe it. Believe me, I’m not “stuck.” It’s that I’m running out of ideas, especially when every time I get, “Oh yeah, I understand. it shouldn’t be too hard.”
Who the hell would name that product In the IT world?
Perhaps a post-It on his screen that says product=hardware or product=equipment would be helpful?
When I was learning month codes I kept a sticky up with Jan=F (etc) until it was so second nature that I didn’t notice when it fell down. There’s almost always some sort of post-it hanging off a screen at my desk.
Is it one of those cases where it is akin to a word that you chronically misspell, so even when you spell it correctly you are convinced it’s wrong and change it?
I have a ton of experience with quants most of whom are on the spectrum. They’re really good at math.
Yes, this guy is a great programmer. I just find this to be a bizarre trait that I’ve now seen in several people. It would be like if you, for some strange reason, thought my name was Bob, and I told you it was Barry and corrected you several times, but you still think it is Bob, and then you actually argue with me over what my name is, even though its MY name.
Its like working with a computer with a bad input.
Does it matter? If not ignore it.
I’m used to people walking off midsentence and crap like that or telling me the math speaks for itself and refusing to consider the algorithm is correct, but the data is wrong. Told one guy we just got some data in today he was waiting for… he started giggling.
Who the hell would name that product In the IT world?
The group we are doing this for doesn’t work in IT, but I agree that it was a bad idea.
Perhaps a post-It on his screen that says product=hardware or product=equipment would be helpful?
Well, I tried naming it “Product Team” and I thought he understood, but at some point he just translated that in his head to think that “Product Team” = “Group” instead of = “Product.”
Has anyone here here ever read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nigh Time? It shows what its like to have Aspergers. This guy will say with extreme confidence that he understands something, only to find out that he didn’t understand at all. And again, the hardest piece of this is that I will explain “Do you see that 3 + 3 = 6?” And he’ll say, “oh yes, definitely. That makes sense,” when what he really means is, “The 6 part didn’t make sense to me so I just ignored it, but yes, I know what 3 + 3 is. Its 7.”
If they have an idea in their head, it gets stuck there and nearly impossible to dislodge. You can talk to them, explain very clearly in a way that people far less intelligent than them can understand, they will tell you that they understand you, and then BAM! its back. And when you bring it up, they look at you confused as if you never had the lengthy explanation with them in the first place.
