Ever had to work with a developer who continuously bitches whines about everything? It’s one of the worst possible things that can happen to a team of developers. I have one golden rule when it comes to bitching: if you are willing to put in the effort to improve the situation, then i don’t have a problem with it. In fact, i bitch a lot too but at least i try to improve whatever it is that i’m bitching about. If you’re merely bitching but not willing to put some effort into improving things, then you would really do everyone a favor by simply keeping your mouth shut.
Let’s examine for a second how a whiny developer can come across to his/her coworkers:
- you might be very lazy because you don’t want to solve problems you’re complaining about
- you might be incapable of solving problems that you complain about
- you might just be unwilling to actually solve problems
- you might just expect other people to solve your problems all the time
- you might just be completely out of touch with reality
- you’re probably not a good teammate
- you probably only care about what you need to do
- you are definitely a huge pain in the ass
Either one of those isn’t very good, is it? Not to mention when people think more than one those things of you.
I think a team of developers is always better off without the whiny developer. It’s what professional sports coaches often call “Addition by subtraction”. Sometimes you have a talented team that isn’t going anywhere. They aren’t winning the games they should be capable of winning and the team gives the impression that they’ve simply stopped caring. In many cases, these teams suddenly start performing better once the rotten apple in the group has been traded or simply cut from the team. No matter how talented you might be, if you aren’t translating that talent into actual value and are just wearing down your team mates, then you don’t belong on the team.
If you’re a developer who complains a lot, please think about what your presence on a team really means. Are you really contributing anything positive? Could it be possible that the team is better off without you? Would you really not care if your team members would rather not work with you? Can you understand why your team members complain about you?