We've got a new member on our team (from a different team within the company) who within his first week is already trying to shake things up with "fixes"
Its driving me a little crazy. He is more senior than us, but doesn't have any of the context of why we do things the way we do
He'll explain things to us we already know, and propose solutions to us we tried months ago that didn't/don't work
After getting a little frustrated, I pulled him aside at the end of the workday and sat him down to give him some context on a lot of things on our team, but he's determined to "shake things up" and believes he's "right" so "why should it matter"?
The one good thing about this is it's taught me just how patient and restrained I can be, which is a lot more than I thought, but please, please tell me that this eventually changes?
> The one good thing about this is it's taught me just how patient and restrained I can be, which is a lot more than I thought, but please, please tell me that this eventually changes?
It might not, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Personally speaking, I've been on both sides of this conversation. A number of years ago, I joined a company and I tried to shake things up with fixes. My initial ideas lacked the context, I didn't understand the constraints, and I certainly trivialized some important aspects of what was going on. Some people were patient with me and focused on explaining the unique context and constraints. Fortunately for me, I took the time to listen to them and I was in a much better position to offer up fixes.
Some of my fixes were good and well received, and others not so much. Typically, I found my ability to create positive change was strongly correlated to me taking the time to ask people questions, heeding their warnings, leveraging their unique insights and giving their contrasting opinions credit.
When I hired a technical lead for my team, the shoe was on the other foot and when he joined. He offered a lot of very good ideas to shake things up and fix things. When he asked for permission to do these things, I made it a point to never say no, but to take the time to explain the context and constraints. His first few months weren't tremendously productive because we subjected him to the pain of the thing he was going to eventually automate. Eventually, I was given the opportunity to let him loose and give him the freedom to do what he thought was important. I'm glad we did, because he ultimately created some really good tools. More importantly, he was able to prove me wrong about some of the problems I thought were unique to us.
I guess what I learned from it was the importance of directing people's energy. As you already know, it requires the patience to continuously engage in conversations to make sure that self-drive isn't wasted. These days, I'm a lot more appreciate of someone joining the team has a strong locus of control.
If you really want him to become part of the team, try distributing the task by encouraging other team members to help him. He'll be a lot more receptive to listening to your unique constraints if it's coming from people who are trying to help him.
It won't get better, he's more senior, he'll probably get promoted before you guys (and he has a head start) so he'll be your bosses boss and mandate all this stuff.
You'll leave because surely everywhere can't be this dysfunctional only to find that everywhere is then you'll reach a grudging acceptance (people will call you cynical) and you will live for your hobbies.
40 years from now a vein blows out and you shuffle of the mortal coil.
Alternatively it'll get better, he'll realise that his ideas while well intentioned are upsetting the team and he'll tone it down a bit.
Flip a coin. (I wish I was joking about the binary options but well...it'll be one of those two).
Everything changes. But it's likely to be the whippersnapper moving on (again), while the rest you you gets to mend all the semi-implemented best practices to resemble some sort of coherent whole again. Or not. Nah, you're probably ok.
On the plus side, his ideas should give you a moment to reflect on whether or not the way you do things is still the right way. Sometimes you need fresh ideas and approaches. Unfortunately, it's harder to hear when forced like this.
Its driving me a little crazy. He is more senior than us, but doesn't have any of the context of why we do things the way we do
He'll explain things to us we already know, and propose solutions to us we tried months ago that didn't/don't work
After getting a little frustrated, I pulled him aside at the end of the workday and sat him down to give him some context on a lot of things on our team, but he's determined to "shake things up" and believes he's "right" so "why should it matter"?
The one good thing about this is it's taught me just how patient and restrained I can be, which is a lot more than I thought, but please, please tell me that this eventually changes?