

How to deal with arrogant developers? - _RPM

I find myself realizing that some peers of mine in the workplace do not take constructive criticism well. They jump to immediate defense if someone else questions their idea &#x2F; technique &#x2F; implementation.<p>Have you dealt with arrogance?<p>How did you deal with an arrogant developer?
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vishalchandra
Step 1. Make sure that I am disagreeing in the right spirit and communicating
in the right way. See disagreement diagram:
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graham%27s_Hierarchy_...](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graham%27s_Hierarchy_of_Disagreement.svg)
Typically this should ensure that the following discussion is done in the
right spirit because I would guess developers tend to be logic driven.

Step 2. In the scenario that even this does not work or cannot be applied
easily, then ask that "If we wanted to test out which option between these
two, three approaches will work better, than what test could we conduct ?"
Focus on defining a test to validate assumptions, rather than arguing for or
against an option.

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ptrckbrwn
Humbleness is an important quality of someone who is ready to learn: If
someone is arrogant they've agreed that they're the best they can aspire to
be. Fire accordingly.

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Zergy
He said they were "peers of mine". For all we know they are arrogant around
peers they don't respect but are willing to learn from more capable or senior
developers.

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xpto123
You would get more replies by giving a couple concrete examples. This is
culture dependent, but the feedback that is most well received is the one
someone asked for. Are you providing a lot of unsolicited feddback on other
peoples work?

That might come accross wrongly, ask yourself how you would respond if someone
told you the same things you are telling them. Trust takes time to build.

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MalcolmDiggs
My way of dealing with an arrogant developer was simply realizing that it was
ME! From my perspective I had always thought: "I'm senior, you're junior, you
should appreciate my advice and not do XYZ in your old way any more. You're
being arrogant by not accepting my criticism well".

But in reality, I wasn't allowing the junior dev to grow at his own pace, to
explore and understand and evolve his way of doing things. I was just cramming
process and procedure down his throat...which was not only arrogant, but an
extremely ineffective teaching tool.

So in the end, it was I who needed the lesson in humility...not the junior
dev. Funny what a perspective change can do.

~~~
_RPM
I hate to say this, but sometimes I have to prevent myself from being
perceived as arrogant. My passion sometimes takes over, and my expressions may
be perceived as other people as being extremely arrogant. I feel strongly
about things because I am passionate for them but it comes off as arrogance to
some.

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ozuvedi
Not sure if it's arrogance but my team mate always tries to win (i might be
wrong). For example, if we are talking about topic A, as soon as she realizes
what she's saying isn't correct, she jumps to another topic or starts to say "
Yeah , Yeah I know that... but.... ) haha.... As a friend she is good with
all..... professionally i wish I wasn't working with her....

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bjourne
Don't waste time and energy trying to teach people who doesn't want to learn.
Providing constructive criticism is a valuable service you are giving them for
free. If they do not want it, you are an idiot for trying to force it upon
them.

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chrisbennet
Change jobs.:-) But seriously, look for this sort of behavior in the job
interview. Interviews are a 2 way street.

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kphild
Programming is hell as it is. Why make it even worse with your smarty pants
"advice"? As long as the boss does not mind, their code is good enough.

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catmanjan
Nothing, you're obviously in a place of lesser power if you're asking for tips
on the internet - rather than calling them out on it then and there!

