Timeline for Being forced to give an expert opinion in an area that I'm not familiar with or qualified in
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 2021 at 17:46 | vote | accept | cyber101 | ||
| Mar 20, 2021 at 4:35 | comment | added | slebetman | I've had experience working with and with and writing software for telco equipment and a week is not really enough to learn what you need to know to make a decision at this level | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 16:58 | comment | added | Davidmh | @Voo you don't know what the expert would say, that is precisely why you hire them, and why God created consultants. Personally, I wouldn't call anything where you spend $50k "trivial". | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 10:20 | comment | added | Voo | @Davidmh The problem in question is more a "which kind of bandages should we use?". If you don't have the expertise you can't decide if that's a trivial decision (all bandages are the same) or whether there are important differences (oh no you can't use these bandages for an open wound!). If you find documentation that shows it's the former, whatever decision you make won't have a big influence. | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 10:12 | comment | added | Davidmh | @Voo I am not a medical doctor, but I know that a throbbing headache should be checked by a neurologist and a broken leg by an orthopedic surgeon. You don't need the specific expertise to know what kind of expert you need. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 18:43 | comment | added | bob | And if the situation here is a "scape goat" situation, the best bet for OP may be to consider walking if they determine that leaving on their own terms would be better for their career than being on the receiving end of a "scape goat" situation gone bad. But it will ultimately be their decision. And again only OP can truly assess for sure whether the boss is assigning this task to OP in good faith to stretch them (as others have suggested), or whether the boss is looking for a scape goat in case the wrong decision is made. But good to consider it may be a possibility. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 18:40 | comment | added | bob | @computercarguy This is how I read it too--that perhaps OP is being setup to be the scape goat, in which case this makes perfect sense: find someone not qualified to make the decision, force them to do so, then throw them under the bus and drive over them a few times if the decision turns out to be a dud. This reduces the manager's personal career risk. If the decision turns out well, the manager takes the credit. If it goes south, they blame the scape goat. Not saying that's what's happening here, but it could be. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 13:45 | comment | added | matt freake | @GregoryCurrie You're right you don't get all your knowledge at the very end You also don't have much knowledge at the end of the first week. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 13:26 | comment | added | Mawg | As one with *cough* decades of telecomms software development experience, I scoff at the motion that he will be able to make any sort of informed statement in a week. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 8:27 | comment | added | Voo | @BlueRaja If the OP has as they state no expert knowledge of the subject, how could they possibly correctly identify what expertise is required to analyze it correctly? | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 0:53 | comment | added | Gregory Currie | @computercarguy Yeah, in some situations, it is pretty no-win. I suppose you have to take the path with the greatest chance of success. I'm hoping here the manager is right and the OP is able to make a good decision in a week. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 0:52 | comment | added | Gregory Currie | @BlueRaja-DannyPflughoeft The OP is making a lot of assertions that I'm not sure they could make. They can certainly learn something in that time. When you get your degree, you don't get all your knowledge all at once at the very end. | |
| Mar 17, 2021 at 23:18 | comment | added | BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft | If it's something that requires an EE degree to do correctly, a week is not nearly enough time to make an educated guess, even if you spend the full week educating yourself. | |
| Mar 17, 2021 at 22:08 | comment | added | computercarguy | While I agree with this, I've been put in this position several times and if it's "wrong", it's always come back to bite me, no matter how hard I say I'm not qualified to make a decision. Most of my decisions have even been minor compared to $50k, and $50k can be a major expense to many companies. Even with lots of research, I've been "wrong" just because the "favorite" disagrees with me, even if they don't have any experience, either. Unfortunately, it really depends on the manager if this is a "no win" situation for the OP. | |
| Mar 17, 2021 at 8:08 | history | answered | Gregory Currie | CC BY-SA 4.0 |