craigmcn

I have a rule. It’s rule #3, but I won’t get into the other rules, except to say they’re all derived from Wheaton’s Law. The rule is “do your job”—Don’t be a dick, do your job.

I was approached the other morning by a colleague at my former employer. I’m two time zones away and have been gone for about 9 months. “The person doing your job can’t get the application to work anymore. Can you help us out?”

I don’t blame this colleague for getting in touch, she just wants her application to work. But you know what, this isn’t my job. It was my job, and now it belongs to the person who has my job. Why can’t he make the application work anymore? Because he’s not doing his job. Either root through the files and the code and figure out how to make it work. Or start over with something you know how to work. That’s your job. Do your job.

I realize this might not be the work you like or are good at, I realize this might not be a priority, and I realize this might be work that is being phased out. But it’s still your job. Figure it out. Do your job.