proper response?

I don't know the employee's personality, nor, for that matter, I don't really know yours... you don't always respond well when I razz you a bit ;-)

So I'd wait and see what he says.

If he comes off as all mouth and no brains, bounce his head off the sidewalk on the way out the door.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Some guys really have to approach everything as a "get deep into it" ab initio sort of start every single time. These sorts of guys can be very thorough.

At the same time, there are others who will just unfold the schematic and point here and there and ask some stupid questions and see the overall purpose and many of the details right away. Yet will miss some really obvious boners in design because they don't make an ab initio sort of start.

In the perfect world, you get both kinds on your team. It sounds like you've got at least one of the ab initio sort of guys. Personally I do not fall into that category but I do realize their value and usefulness.

Tim.

I'd have a friendly chat with the guy to see where he's really coming from. Using the word "idiot" in front of my boss, especially if it refers to the boss, would never come into my mind. Not even in a joking way.

Yesterday I received the same request except that it's the 2nd round, Gerber checks. So I made sure to ask what the client wanted me to check and, roughly, how much effort to put into it. After all they have to pay me. Found a few things, listed them along with suggestions, he replied that he'll incorporate them, done. That's what I'd also expect from an employee.

BTW I'll probably be at that client a month from now. Bay Area, other end from you (Hayward) but maybe we can have a brewsky then. Depends a bit on what we'll find and how much late night oil we'll have to burn.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

Well, if he meant the part about (your) being an idiot in jest it sounds like a perfectly reasonable statement. In general I want people reviewing my designs to make no assumptions that just because I've been doing this a little while they dont' have to be as vigilent as they would with someone less experienced.

I have one ticked-off tech today who went to some signal integrity classes some months back and came home with the mantra of, "bypass each and every power pin on a connector with its own capacitor to ground!" We have a tiny

1/2" long connector with 8 power pins that go straight back to a *battery* (there are L-C filters and regulators before those power pins touch any Vcc nets) and he was pissed that I made him delete 7 of his 8 caps.

Same guy also bought into the "return currents will go completely around cuts in ground planes!" mantra, although I think I've convinced him it's not

*quite* that simple in real circuits at reasonable frequencies.

I'm liking your point about the potential damage caused by some of the circuit design books & seminars presenting their material as canon more and more...

---Joel

Tell him "thanks, good idea then you should be more comfortable with it ."

Nothing. Just let him solve the problems if any. Seems that he is long enough in designs not to jump with "I know, I know!" of greenhorns. And his attitude may prove itself in the end. Who can say?

Enjoy

Stanislaw

Sounds like a Slacker, or a Prima Donna to me. Either way, as long as the job gets done and nobody's feelings are hurt....

You might coach him that management opportunities are seldom offered to folks who engage in this sort of behavior, even if they are talented. Though it does occasionally happen in spite of, or even because of it.

-mpm

How did you make the request?

'Yo!, New Snot. Shit work needs doing! You ARE UP. Check job

759087w36357-98 before we f*ck things up again. It's on the server somewhere. I'm busy bye!!!!!!!!!'

Or

'I've just finished a design for blah blah, it's a blah blah. Dave laid out the board and we need someone to check stuff over before we send it out for manufacture. I know. It's shit work but we do that here. Someone elses mind outside the job tends to find other peoples f*ck ups.

Here's the information you'll need about the design. Give it a quick look and I'll go over it in more detail with you in a bit. Come back and ask me any questions. Dave knows you've been targetted so you can bother him as well.'

'Right DAVE! Monkey's set up GOLF NOW!'

AZ

"Well, you'd better hurry up and get started."

Cheers! Rich

Why would anybody consider checking a design "shit work"?

I'd consider it a good opportunity to learn something and be a bit proud that somebody thought I was smart enough to maybe catch one of their bugs. (And I make sure to say "thanks" when somebody catches one of my bugs/oversights)

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's.  I hate spam.

Exactly!

Humiliation.

Good cop: "Sweety will you please apply your talent and experience to give us your kind approval over the board schematics and layout"

Here is another idea:

"Why the design it is not verified yet?"

This way you encourage the employee initiative to do the necessary things without having them to be asked about it.

Vladimir Vassilevsky

DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

Well, there you go. I'd be a piss poor manager as well.

You still managed to snip some bits of my post that implied the person concerned would be getting more involved in the design and with the people rather than.....

"to look it over before we gerber it."

Which sort of implies the poor sod would be looking over a PCB layout and looking for design rule violations........ shit work.

It's what you ask and how you ask it.

Sorry to have failed.

DNA

"Sounds good"?

Would you want him checking it under the assumption the designer (you) is infallible, or do you want him checking all the stupid little things that are the ones that usually go wrong (not the big complicated things, which are usually foremost in one's mind during the design process).

Of course "Goodbye" is another possible answer, and it's your perogative.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it\'s the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

Is he an engineer?

If so... Tell him that engineers are social retards, not designer idiots, so he doesn't need to take such an extreme POV on a design.

It'll go right over his head, but you can laugh inside.

Cripes!!!!

"Here's the information you'll need about the design. Give it a quick look and I'll go over it in more detail with you in a bit. Come back and ask me any questions. Dave knows you've been targetted so you can bother him as well."

It's not some KGB incident and it's not some concept about man management for the sake of screwing the employee.

If (big if) I had given someone a job and I managed to get a response like that out of them I'd be asking myself where I had gone wrong or I'd be really pleased.

Assuming I thought I'd got the right person for the job then I'd either be wondering about how well I've got things set up to get them integrated into the company to begin with or I'd know it was right because I got such an off hand response.

I'd still have to ask if things are OK and do something if they are not. And then I'd have to be stupid and say OK take a rest from that, do this and if you get a Eureka moment and want to blather at someone........

DNA

But a newsgroup is such a convenient place to be crabby without consequences. Especially for people like me who are so darned nice in real life.

John

What I said was "Perfect. Thanks."

He found a couple of goodies, too. I always check my own stuff as if an idiot designed it.

John

I wish I had the balls to say that when I first started in this business. Your response should be, "and I will do like wise"! He will be perfect in your sales department. Harry

Sno-o-o-ort ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave