

Ask HN: My Lead Is Stupid. What Should I Do? - artundtechnik

I am in a software company startup with about 200 engineers. I am in team of 6 people. In every engineering team, there will be always an engineer lead. The case is, my lead is stupid. He does not design well. He does not know good code. Even more, he can&#x27;t write a test. I always ask him to review the design, the code, to other coworker (other than him), but he always refuses that (he says &quot;Well this is good enough, no need for other to review me&quot;).<p>The result? It ends up to, I maintain his poor code and design. Longer development process (Since there is no test!), etc.<p>What should i do? I want to tell this to the-lead-of-all-engineer-lead, but first of all i want to find out the best way how to tell this to him (the lead of all engineer leads).
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facorreia
1\. Make friends with developers in other teams. 2\. Try to get transferred to
their team.

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bejuizb
This! is the most practical and feasible solution. But, it also means that you
take the path with least resistance.

If OP really cares about the company/product, he would do this, and then
openly talk to the lead about his shortcomings in a fair and constructive
manner and resolve the issue.

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artundtechnik
I never think the solution would be this easy. Thanks! I will try to request
team rotation.

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facorreia
Above all, what I mean is that complaining about your boss to your boss' boss
won't make you look good to either of them.

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dummy7953
Well, you're always going to find people with different ability levels than
yourself. So learning how to best deal with these issues will help your
career.

I'm almost certain people refuse to allow others to review their code because
of fear of embarrassment or loss of face. Perhaps when you find something you
can to do improve his code, you can show it to him and sell it as something
that will: 1. make his life easier, 2. impress his boss.

