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0 pointsgodelski5y ago0 comments

> A lot more people have some degree of social anxiety than one might think, especially in IT.

I was interning at this place and the team lead would come and ask the interns what they were doing (at least once a week) and ask really in depth questions. It was extremely nerve wracking because this was the only interaction I had with him and he kept a air of "hard ass" around him. Every few weekly meetings he'd ask the interns for more information and put us on the spot.

It sucked. BUT by the end of the internship I think we all felt a lot more confident speaking and defending our work. So I guess his plan worked, and honestly I'm happy to have had that experience. I think it made me not only a better worker, but a better employee. At the end of the day, we all are in sales in some form. So I do not like the idea of someone else giving the talk, because that's not the person that gets the training from it.

What I'm trying to say is that talks like these really should be used to help your team members with anxiety. A bit of low risk exposure therapy. Speaking is a skill and it is an extremely useful one to every person at every stage in their career. You are supposed to train your employees and sometimes that means making them a little uncomfortable.

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reificator5y ago

As someone who's decently comfortable with public speaking:

Your employer is not your therapist and conflating the two is one of the most terrifying things I have ever read on HN.

godelskiOP5y ago

Calling this "conflating your therapist and employer" is an unfair accusation and clear reductio ad absurdum.

It is training. You are expected to train junior engineers, not just in tech but also in soft skills. Public speaking is a soft skill. It is also something they do in schools. You have to do classroom presentations and reports. I don't think you would make the same argument for them.

Your job should be making you a better employee than you were when you came in (and not just in your hard skills). This is especially true for junior positions. You will be expected to defend your work to your boss and employers. No one is saying to give a talk to an open audience. But you should be able to clearly justify your work.

reificator5y ago

> talks like these really should be used to help your team members with anxiety. A bit of low risk exposure therapy.

> You are supposed to train your employees and sometimes that means making them a little uncomfortable.

Reductio ad absurdum only applies if the source does not already convey that message. This literally says that your employer should be providing therapy for anxiety. (Not providing a therapist, literally performing therapy) There's no ambiguity there. It's in the original text, right there.

Anxiety and soft skills are related but soft skills are a thing to learn and be taught and anxiety is a condition. If anxiety is in the way of learning soft skills the solution is not for the employer to provide therapy.

godelskiOP5y ago

That is not what was intended. I know because I wrote it. It was a push to the most absurd interpretation.

As for anxiety, you should talk to people with it. It is a spectrum. Being nervous and anxious is not a medical condition but the human condition. Being unable to breath and having heart issues (i.e. a panic attack) is a medical condition. There's a clear spectrum here and and equating nervousness to an anxiety disorder is trivializing the condition that people actually suffer. Clearly I'm not saying you should be forced to do this if you have a real condition (ad absurdum). But if you're just uncomfortable and nervous, welcome to the human condition. While you enjoy your stay I would appreciate it if you don't trivialize medical issues. If you do have medical issues: please seek professional help, and I'm sorry if you interpreted my message as inclusive of you.

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mtippett5y ago

+1 here.

An individual's team/employeer/peers/manager should create the space for your to lead people (which in a lot of cases means stepping out in front of a lot of people), and to be supportive relative to the experience.

Individuals need to take responsibility for their personal growth and find avenues (twitch, toastmasters, meetups, etc) to get stronger that doesn't rely on your employer.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

reificator5y ago

As someone who's decently comfortable with public speaking:

Your employer is not your therapist and conflating the two is one of the most terrifying things I have ever read on HN.

godelskiOP5y ago

Calling this "conflating your therapist and employer" is an unfair accusation and clear reductio ad absurdum.

reificator5y ago

> talks like these really should be used to help your team members with anxiety. A bit of low risk exposure therapy.

> You are supposed to train your employees and sometimes that means making them a little uncomfortable.

godelskiOP5y ago

That is not what was intended. I know because I wrote it. It was a push to the most absurd interpretation.

1 more reply

mtippett5y ago

+1 here.

Individuals need to take responsibility for their personal growth and find avenues (twitch, toastmasters, meetups, etc) to get stronger that doesn't rely on your employer.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse