
My tech lead is an idiot - gnee
 His code is terrible, and he’s intuitions are usually super wrong. 
And to top it off, he is not very productive — our junior engineers are lapping him on tickets closed.<p>Yet this guy outranks most our team by two levels. 
But my manager is not very technical, so he can’t detect his BS (and he is somewhat of an idiot himself).<p>But this guy is very gregarious and extroverted — the business folks like him.<p>I am super annoyed because I have to fix this guys bugs, and ACTUALLY do the technical leading myself — yet I get no credit. I’m ready to quit this job or make some kind of lateral move to another team. What should I do?
======
greenyoda
> And to top it off, he is not very productive — our junior engineers are
> lapping him on tickets closed.

Tech leads have responsibilities that junior engineers don't have, such as
architectural design, code review, mentoring junior developers, meeting with
management and other groups, etc. Thus, they might spend less time on
programming than junior developers and close fewer tickets. They might also be
working on more complex tickets that take longer to close. (Of course, your
lead might still be a lousy developer, but counting closed tickets is not a
good measure of his productivity.)

> I am super annoyed because I have to fix this guys bugs, and ACTUALLY do the
> technical leading myself — yet I get no credit. I’m ready to quit this job
> or make some kind of lateral move to another team. What should I do?

Look for a new job, either on another team or at a different company. When
asked why you're looking for a new job, definitely don't say your tech lead is
an idiot. Talk about how you're looking for an opportunity grow your career
and take on more responsibility.

~~~
httgp
> definitely don't say your tech lead is an idiot

I’m curious to know why you recommend this. The poster should perhaps not use
those same words, but isn’t it worthwhile giving honest feedback?

~~~
jlokier
The poster thinks the tech lead is in idiot partly based on the fact the tech
lead doesn't close as many tickets as juniors.

Any good interviewer will figure this out if it's mentioned.

Then they will know the poster doesn't know as much as they think they do
about the job of a tech lead, and that they jump to damning conclusions from
dubious judgement. This correlates with "this person may be challenging to
work with", which matters a lot.

They might still get the job, but it's not an advantage.

Instead, why not start a constructive discussion with the interviewer about
how they found the way work was done disappointing at the last job and would
like to know how things are performed in the new one, or if going for a lead
job, how they envisage going about the lead role.

~~~
bjourne
You are yourself jumping to damning conclusions about the OP, a person you
don't know anything about except for what is written in his or her question.
It is entirely possible that the OP is right and that the tech lead is an
idiot. That is a valid reason for wanting to switch jobs.

~~~
jlokier
While I'm prepared to believe you, looking at my comment it doesn't seem that
way to me. Out of interest, which damning conclusion do you think I've reached
about the OP?

I've avoided saying anything about whether the OP is _right_ about whether
their tech lead is an idiot.

The only conclusion about the OP I see is "The poster thinks the tech lead is
in idiot partly based on the fact the tech lead doesn't close as many tickets
as juniors."

I think that's a simple implication from the OP writing "he is not very
productive — our junior engineers are lapping him on tickets closed".

All the rest of my comment is about how an interviewer might likely think if
that were said in the manner discussed; it's not about the OP.

~~~
bjourne
> While I'm prepared to believe you, looking at my comment it doesn't seem
> that way to me. Out of interest, which damning conclusion do you think I've
> reached about the OP?

1\. That the OP doesn't know as much as they think they do about the job of a
tech lead. 2. That the OP is jumping to damning conclusions from dubious
judgement. 3. That #1 and #2 correlates with being "challenging to work with."

~~~
jlokier
Thanks.

#1-3 are about how the interviewer will likely think if the discussed remark
is said _in an interview_ ; they are not _my_ conclusions about the OP.

It would have been more accurate if I'd stated that was a risk being taken by
the OP in the interview rather than a certainty. Though I expect that would
have made the point less clear to most readers.

#3 correlates with #2 (not #1), and this relation is not specific to the OP.

#2 may not be true of the OP, but an interviewer who thinks it based on things
said in the interview, is likely to think #3 follows.

This is a risk the OP is advised not to take if they are trying to make a
favourable impression.

~~~
p1esk
Agreed. When I'm interviewing someone, any negative remarks about past
employment (or anything really) would be a huge red flag, regardless of the
actual merit of the remark. In my opinion, this is just not something smart
people do (being negative during the interview), and my main objective during
an interview is to determine how smart one is (not to mention being pleasant
to work with). They can bitch about their past employers over beer in a bar -
after they've been hired.

------
masukomi
It's been commented by others, but I just wanted to chime in that when I was a
tech lead I was _very_ happy if I could close one ticket a week. It took me a
while to accept just how much I had to delegate because while I _knew_ how to
solve the problems faster and better than most of the people on my team (i had
more experience with the product and more experience writing software) I
simply couldn't productively contribute to the codebase _and_ do my job as a
tech lead, which was _mostly_ answering questions and making decisions about
how to proceed all day.

I'm not saying your lead isn't an idiot. I just wanted to give another
viewpoint on why "tickets closed" is a terrible metric to apply to a tech
lead. If you're fixing tons of bugs and closing lots of tickets you're
probably not tech leading as much as you think you are.

Being tech lead isn't about being a productive coder or being the _best_
coder. It's not even about knowing more about coding than the others on your
team. It's about eliminating the technical roadblocks for your team by
answering questions helpfully and making good decisions about the direction to
move the codebase, and having meetings and discussions about the future of the
codebase. All of that takes a ton of time.

------
austhrow743
You should always be job hunting to some extent or other. You should take
other offers if they are more appealing to you than your current job. You
should not take other offers if they are not more appealing than your current
job. You should have an offer in hand before you quit.

This is true regardless of if your tech lead is an idiot or a genius although
you should include that as one of the criteria by which you evaluate other
offers.

You should also calm down about this and not take it personally. You're using
your skills and talents to put food on the table. Your tech lead is using his.
His manager is using his. They're not out to personally screw you. You do get
credit. It's called money and it arrives in your bank account every two weeks
or so. If you don't think the credit is proportional to what you bring to the
table see the start of this comment.

------
lordkrandel
Get him promoted. It's the
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle)

~~~
winkeyless
> Under the Dilbert principle, employees who were never competent are promoted
> to management to limit the damage they can do.

Interesting but how does promoting such employee limit the damage (instead of
causing more damage to the team)?

------
cabraca
ok lets break this down: you say that guy is "very gregarious and extroverted
— the business folks like him" und your manager "is somewhat of an idiot".

could it be that your tech lead is stepping up to fix the mistakes of your
manager? sounds to me like that guy might be the buffer of the team. the
person that catches the shit the business folks fling at the team to allow the
rest of the team to get some work done. Of course this impacts his "real"
position as a tech lead.

its natural that the second in command (sounds like thats you) steps up to
fill the resulting void and take over tasks. maybe you should talk to your
techlead. ask (not accuse) him whats up with your observations. communication
is key in those situations.

------
lazyant
This is called "politics", which is basically playing the human relationship
game (vs technical merit).

Your options are to play it (to varying degrees) or to move to a place where
there's less of it. But make no mistake, there's always some of it; the person
who talks to a lot of people and make connections and is likeable will have an
advantage (maybe rightfully so).

You don't need to be extroverted to play the game, just takes practice like
everything else.

------
nscalf
If you're unhappy with your superiors, time to jump ship. It doesn't matter if
that's because of your team lead or your manager, they have the leverage over
you. Nothing you can do about it.

------
codingslave
Just assume the higher ups value whatever this guy has, so either become like
him or go work somewhere else

------
smallcharleston
Who cares? What do you care about? I care about money and food in the table
and being able to live my life. Did that guy interfere with that or managing
to continue a decent career trajectory? If not, who cares?

------
trumbitta2
I stopped reading at the second "idiot".

What are you doing there? Go work somewhere else and quit this unprofessional
attitude.

------
jimmyvalmer
Coding brings out the hate because it's such a precise discipline and people,
especially those in management, optimize for optics rather than correctness.

In my more sober moments I like to consider the smallness of the entire
enterprise of my employer. Yes, everyone around me sucks but what other than
my sanity is being hurt by the stupidity of it all? Nothing, really.

If that doesn't work (it doesn't for me), think: "I'm being paid to smile and
nod when fed horseshit."

------
lunias
I've felt the same many times in my career. I used to think that I should
"stick it out" and things would get better. They don't. You should start
interviewing, accept an offer, and put in your two weeks notice.

Try not to get discouraged when the same thing happens 6 months into your new
job; just repeat the process above and hope that you're wiser / luckier with
your selection this time around.

------
stuqqq
In your situation, I would follow his order exactly, do the minimum and let
him be the firefighter.

I wouldn’t follow a non-technical manager if I have a choice. I tried it once,
it’s a shitty experience. It’s hard to build trust between us. He simply
didn’t trust/understand what I said. There were always a pair of eyes watching
me. The conversation and management overhead is very high.

I probably wouldn’t hire them if I were the boss. They don’t add value to the
project much.

------
danbolt
In my current situation I don’t always agree with my tech lead on design
decisions. Sometimes I can feel a bit stressed about the tasks I’m assigned
too, since I have this sinking feeling where they might end up down the road.
Still, the experiences I’m having at my current job are worthwhile to me, so
I’m overall okay with committing to my current situation.

I’d ask you the same question: do you feel you’re overall benefiting from the
job you’re in? If not, and you’re able to, it might be good to look for other
work. You might find satisfaction, and someone else might be a better fit for
working with this lead of yours.

One thing I’m aware of is that while I don’t always agree with my current
lead, I know that he’s shielding me from incompetence from other areas of the
team (and there are plenty of incompetent people on any org!) to help me be
productive. Consider if that’s true for you too; if not than I think it’ll be
easier to leave than you might be considering.

------
c0110
First, whatever you may feel about your tech lead -- don't let it get out to
prospective teams. Complaining about people in a previous team will look bad
on you. (Even if it's not your fault, that's how interviewers may perceive
you.)

Second, you have my sympathy. I was in a team where I was doing a lot of the
technical work and leadership. The TL didn't come up with designs, didn't
mentor anyone, and talked behind other engineer's backs. I have no problem
with the fact that he didn't write much code, but it was very frustrating that
he couldn't explain to me why he disagreed with my designs. In one instance, I
had met with the TL multiple times to make sure he and I were on the same
page, held several team-wide design reviews in the previous month where the TL
attended, and got approval from all the other engineers on the team to begin
my work. My manager's feedback to me was, 1) it was my responsibility to make
the TL understand and 2) I needed to work on "buying consensus" with the team.
To say the least, I started looking for a job with better career
opportunities.

I wasn't the only person who felt the way I did; the person who took my place
after I left the team felt the same way. I later found out that the TL got
promoted (for what, I have no idea, but it's probably because he played the
politics well).

This stuff happens.

You can't do much about fixing your team situation, but you can certainly look
to move to another team where there are better opportunities to grow and be
noticed. Also, take some time to observe how he plays politics. Some of it you
might agree with (and it may be useful to you in the future), and some of it
you might not agree with. My TL was very good at praising people he perceived
as higher ranking than him, and he would somehow talk to them in such a way
that they would basically spell out designs for him, so he was "never wrong"
about how he did things. You'll find that the higher you go up, it's not just
about your technical abilities anymore, but how you convince people about the
right decisions to make.

------
swayson
Top athletes appear to have a general perspective on progress and self-
development. Instead of comparing oneself to others, rather compare yourself
today, relative to yourself yesterday, as a gauge on deliberate and precise
progress towards the desirable outcome.

~~~
obstacle1
It's not an entirely relevant analogy though. It's good practice to seek
mastery of craft. But an engineer in a team/organization has to navigate a
system that is literally based around comparing peers, i.e. for promotions.
There isn't really an objective metric for engineer performance, it's based
pretty much entirely on what co-workers/managers/promo committees think of
you.

This is not something athletes have to deal with, they can focus on improving
personal performance and trust that it'll lead to an objective result (winning
a race or game).

------
ncmncm
Any time you are thinking it is time to change jobs, it is past time to change
jobs.

------
fjfaase
It is easy to blame your own weaknesses on someone else. Maybe you should read
some dating books and/or work on your self-confidence. I am a very introvert
person myself. There are some simple things you can do, to improve your non-
verbal communication and actually make people see you for who you are and what
your contributions are. Moving to another job, may actually not solve
anything, because the chances of meeting another tech lead that is like your
current tech lead, is very high, because it is usually the less skilled people
who drift to tech lead roles.

------
p0d
Get another job and if everyone else is an idiot then alarm bells should ring.
If not you will be happier.

------
rasz
>I have to fix this guys bugs, and ACTUALLY do the technical leading myself

sounds like he is quite brilliant after all

------
thiago_fm
Just quit and go work somewhere else, you can't grow in an environment like
this

------
BOOSTERHIDROGEN
Could you find a method this hard conversations ?

