
How I learned to motivate a stubborn programmer - philipkd
http://dearcharlottebook.com/2011/12/how-i-learned-to-motivate-others.html
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mcav
If you approach a discussion with the attitude that it might be hard to
accomplish, you inspire the creative and competitive part of the mind to
search for ways it can be done.

If you approach it as though the task is easy, the mind searches for
difficulties and reasons why it might not be possible instead.

------
coenhyde
Team from hell? By the sounds of it they had a clash of egos. I probably
wouldn't want to work with Paul or Phil.

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keeran
How many people realise they have been manipulated after reading material like
this? It's the same feeling I had after reading 'How to make friends and
influence people'.

This is why programmers don't make the big bucks.

~~~
shard
You're saying that suggestions like "Give honest and sincere appreciation",
"Be a good listener", "Become genuinely interested in other people", "Show
respect for the other person's opinions", and "Try honestly to see things from
the other person's point of view" are manipulative?

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mannicken
If I was Paul and read this, I would never talk to you again.

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angersock
Having dealt with programming teams in my teenage years, yeah, ego is always
an entertaining problem.

That said, you come off as a needy manipulative little shithead.

If this was such a big deal to you, and you cared so much about self-
improvement, why didn't you learn the skills yourself instead of manipulating
Paul into doing stuff for you?

~~~
mathattack
"That said, you come off as a needy manipulative little shithead."

He was supposed to be 14 at the time, no? It could be an honest appraisal of
amateur Macchiaveli-ism, no?

~~~
philipkd
It is supposed to be an honest self-appraisal. The letters dated at later ages
bear out the full arc of my development on this topic.

