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I said something at work to my manager that I think came off as bragging. It's eating me inside

posted 5 years ago by robocop2019 (187)
20 replies | jump to latest

I am a programmer and recently joined an organization. I was given a task of understanding a plug and play module without documentation by reading the code and talking to the person who wrote it on Skype call. Understanding it without documentation was challenging task. I was asked by my manager to add 15 other guys to the call so they too can grasp it since they will also have to use that module. We had two sessions of 1 hour calls. And then got few days to read code and wrack our brains to grasp it. Today after 15 days my manager came to me and asked me what's the status on it. I told her that I think I have grasped it enough to use it in the project. And to I also added..

"After the last session with Mark (guy who wrote the code),I asked everybody who was in the call , what they have understood and I knew immediately that I am the best candidate to crack this."

She (my manager) then asked me if I could book the meeting room and tutor everybody else tomorrow? I said may be day after tomorrow.

To which she smiled at me and said "that's it?"

I immediately regretted it because I felt I should not have said it. It seemed like I am saying that I was better than everybody else. I felt that I implied that everybody else was not as good as me. I did offer to tutor them tomorrow after that but it is eating me from the inside that she probably things I am bragger and look down upon other coders.

Should I say something to repair the damage? May be slide the following into the conversation :

"I knew I am the right candidate to crack that code, and I do not say that because I am better than others but because the guy who was explaining it on call had an accent that most people could not comprehend. "

Am I overthinking this incident? Should I just forget it? Should I do something to repair the damage? I am worried that the next time she gives me something challenging and if I can't crack it she will be like "I know he was all talk"

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 5 years ago

Sounds like you are overthinking it. You put in the work, understood the material and offered to take charge of the project. All good things. As long as you deliver what you promised, I don't see any problem.

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

So do you think I shouldn't try to fix it? By bringing it up in a conversation somehow?

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[–] froggyandtoadie (835) 5 years ago

I agree with texas on this one. Definitely overthinking it. There is nothing at all wrong with being confident in your abilities.

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Thank you. I think I am just too self conscious. You are right I think I am overthinking it.
So, I guess I should cancel my plant to bring it up in a conversation and try to fix it.

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[–] froggyandtoadie (835) 5 years ago

I would do something else to keep your mind of it, and then see how you feel about it later. If it’s still bugging you, I don’t think it would hurt to say something. I just always go with my gut on things like this, but you can’t hear your gut if your head is being too noisy.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I agree with the others who commented. You are likely over thinking it and don't need to do anything to address or correct it.

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Thanks, I think you guys are probably right. Also, there is a risk of making it worse by trying to "fix" it.

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[–] Stratego (29209) 5 years ago

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but if she responded by saying you should tutor the rest, then it doesn't seem she had a problem with what you said.

I doubt she's dwelling on it like you are. But if you really feel bad about it, try complimenting the others the next opportunity you get. I don't think you need to bring this up again.

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

I think you are right. Complimenting others at the next opportunity would be a better way to fix it( if it needs fixing). Thanks.

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[–] tcrum (29618) 5 years ago

Go up to her and ask a mid level question you know the answer to , but act like you don't . Then say wow thanks , I was a bit confused there. She'll realize you are willing to ask for help and you don't think you know it all.

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[–] McQualude (4231) 5 years ago

If you aren't confident in yourself, no one else will be either.

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

That is true.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

so you've got 16 people trying to understand this code , with the help of the guy who wrote it ?
that as lot of man hours just on the 2 calls , never mind the 2 weeks !
its not exactly plug and play if it takes that kind of effort!
What language and how many lines?

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Well all of us don’t have much to do except be ready for the project that is starting next week. So, it’s not a waste of resources from management’s perspective to have 16 people work on it because they were not doing anything else anyways.
It’s angular. Can’t say how many lines of code. The guy took angular source code and modified it to add features that otherwise don’t exist in angular framework. The reason it is a challenge is because there is no documentation.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

you mean like he added a new NgFor / NgIf type thing?

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Well, suppose you have n number of feature modules. You can not lazily load it in one view without changing the URL.
I mean sure you can nest components but if you have modules that are on the same level you can not lazy load multiple modules in the same router-outlet can you?
He modified the angular so you could lazily load Module1,2,3,4..n in the same router outlet, without ever changing the URL. (And all of these modules are on same level, no nesting)

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

ah , gotcha ... i think ...
I'll stfu and bow out quietly now ....

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

ha ha ha ha.
What technology/language are you into?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

ive always used vbscript in the past to do all sorts of things,
got promotion to 'proper' Developer recently (or programmer , as you and i prefer to call it)
now doing dotnet / c# , abit of Angular (and therefor typescript/html/css)
SQL , SSIS packages ... , oh , and making robots with some automation software.
And today Visual Studio has broken!! wont load the SSIS packages :(
took ages to do a install repair - which made no difference
now doing a reinstall , and not confident that will help either , so many runtimes and stuff have to work together ... got very little done today!

Oh and re your OP , yeah dont stress about it , theres a lot of people go a long way saying things like that when , unlike you , they're lying!

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[–] robocop2019 (187) 5 years ago

Thanks for encouraging words mate.
And best of luck with that broken VS :)

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