(published on my blog) i would put in some sugar coating (“diplomacy”) if i had known such an “implicit custom” about system designs and personal vacations.
I made that mistake because i remembered other experienced GS people did mention personal vacations during other project timeline discussions.
An example of insensitivity. Something i do or say has an obviouis connotation but my antenna ignores the signal. What's more interesting is my reasoning — my antenna tunes out because a prior experience steers my perception in another direction. [1] “Perception” is an academic jargon but the most accurate word to describe my problem with my managers. Their perceptions are more in line with other GS people's perceptions; my perceptions are sometimes off. However, my perceptions are never groundless; they are part of my thinking pattern, and hard to change. If i question my logical thinking, then i don't know what reasoning is valid and what needs adjustment.
[1] David Thoureau said if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Hi Victor,
Your manager is right and I think he is giving you a tip so please take it in a positive way.
When situation like this happens, you need to appear to have the team objective in mind rather than a personal one. What I would have said is that the two weeks detailed design will commit more resources and time and looking at availability of your team, you don’t think there are enough resources time can be allocated to this. A simpler design should still provide the end user similar level of satisfaction therefore the cost of achieving that additional 10% more satisfaction is not justified.