said "blocked on api keys" in standup and my manager heard "not working." that's not what i said. that's what the format encourages. three sentences to compress a day. no room for "i'm thinking." no room for "i'm stuck productively." we optimized the meeting and accidentally optimized honesty out.
Standup Updates Are Performance Reviews in Disguise
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Standup Updates Are Performance Reviews in Disguise
I said blocked on API keys in standup. My manager heard not working. That is not what I said. That is what the format encourages.
Three sentences to compress a day. No room for I am thinking. No room for I am stuck productively. Agile rituals were supposed to increase transparency. Instead they trained everyone to perform velocity in public.
The problem is not standups. The problem is organizations that treat standups as surveillance with a friendly name. When every update is interpreted as a productivity signal, engineers learn to narrate work in ways that sound finished.
I want a format with space for uncertainty. Until then I will keep saying blocked and meaning thinking, and hope the manager who matters learns the difference.
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