Ask HN: Dreading Work

The only one thing that has all the difference in world to me about work: quality of coworkers.<p>The business can be failing with layoffs around the corner (I’ve been there). The current job can be building really shitty things that have trouble releasing to the public even possibly due to really poor code quality from the team. No matter how unproductive the technical environment is or how bad the business becomes the stress factor always comes back to quality of teammates. Always.<p>In your current work environment how far will you go to help a teammate? Seriously, how excessively far? Will your teammates be there for you just as much?<p>This condition is a major factor in retention in the military and it’s something none of my prior corporate employers knew how to foster. My current employer seems to have it really nailed though despite being a monster giant with 270,000 employees.<p>Culture is driven by leadership both intentionally and through inattention. Great work culture is never an accident. It’s there because leadership has intentionally invested considerable resources on it and frequently seeks to continuously improve at great expense.<p>As a leader be a listener and solve problems more than just administrative concerns. Really be there for your people and empower them. As a contributor invest in your teammates. My recent mid year feedback from my manager actually suggested I focus less on doing business related work and more on providing training and mentorship. I am fortunate to be surrounded by junior developers who have a real hunger to improve their technical competencies and want to do the right things in the code even when internal processes make that frustrating.

I&#x27;ve been through it a couple of times. Both times I left and found a new job. You spend about half the time you&#x27;re awake during the week at work. Don&#x27;t stay somewhere that&#x27;s bad for you.