Comment by move-on-by

> when people need help they ask the group and whoever is the best at that thing helps them -- or whoever hasn't helped in a while.

I agree this would be healthy for an organization, but I don’t think that is often possible. In this example, the organization is clearly NOT tracking mentor activity. So, anyone who helps someone else, is getting zero recognition for it.

I work with a lot of people where ‘ruthless prioritization’ is considered a good quality. That means no one gets any help. All taking. No giving. Pure selfishness really.

Back to the example. Tim is stepping up and filling in a major gap for the company. People need help. He has decided to go against the grain and help. However, instead of doing it with the help of leadership, he is just doing what needs to be done and it almost cost him his job.

Frankly, I identify with Tim. I love helping people figure out problems. Be it build env issues, failing tests, or some design gap. I help people all the time on top of my other work. While my immediate manager knows that and is good with it, upper leadership doesn’t care and just wants everyone to act like what they are working on is more important then what their peers are working on. Ruthless prioritizing is a seed of toxicity.

I got a bit off topic… How to encourage helping peers and juniors when helping isn’t tracked and isn’t rewarded or encouraged? How do you maintain a healthy culture despite all the metrics?