not just random

The bozo bit has been discussed before in Jim McCarthy’s Dynamics of Software Development Ths is, by the way, a great book, which will soon be further discussed in the recommended reading section. A further discussion of the bozo bit can be found over at c2.

I want to hereby assert the importance of trying hard to not flip the bit.

There can of course be times, when working with certain individuals can be a rather trying experience, but setting the bit and from then on basically ignore or discount anything and everything the person says, must not be the solution. It is important to differentiate between a bozo being a manager, direct co-worker or a more junior staff person. In every case however, a more political approach would be more suitable than simply setting the bozo bit.

Now, in a typical scenario, we have a bozo on the team and we cannot get rid of him (or her). We are stuck, so we better make the best of it.

What if the person is your junior, maybe even reports to you? In this case, flipping the bit does not seem to have any immediate negative impact, since you can basically tell the bozo what to do, you can impose your will, if you have to. This way we can prevent severely stupid things from happening, but the team climate probably still gets affected negatively. Instead, it might well be possible to reason and provide mentoring. It is well possible the person behaves like a bozo just because he does not have the necessary experience to know any better.

What if the person is your direct co-worker? Depending on how productive the co-worker remains this might best be made a management issue. Simply flipping the bozo bit could well backfire here, because overall team productivity will surely decline. That means that you yourself might just as well be stuck late in the office during crunch time before a major deadline.

What if the person is your manager? He or she will always be able to impose their will on you. Flipping the bit may be tempting, but it often may also not change the fact that you ultimately have to do as you’re told anyway. If you cannot come to a reasonable resolution with your manager or possibly seek advice from higher up in the company hierarchy, then you may be best off exploring your options in a different department or even outside the company.

Now, in situations, when one is tempted to flip a bozo bit on someone the temptation can be big to discount the other person’s opinions. This can be a fairly emotional matter. It can be very helpful to remember that, no matter what, you are on the same team. That means you should, by definition work towards the same goal. Personal differences should ideally be put aside.

Depending on how political the company environment is, different approaches may be appropriate. There is almost always a better way than flipping the bozo bit.