On condescendence

Hugues Tennier — Sat, 18 Aug 2018 00:52:07 +0000

I recently came across a discussion on a web developer Facebook group. Someone had asked a somewhat simple question: Do you think there’s a need to use a CMS on every client projects?

My answer to that is relatively simple: In my web agencies days, countless times, a client would ask us to make everything editable. Making our dev work harder and longer, sometimes even with some design limitations. When the project was completed, usually two things would happen: either the client would call us to update the website because he didn’t have time to do it or he would just update a page once every 6 months.

It depends on the type of project or the type of client you are working with. That’s the key here: everyone has a different background and different previous experiences.

A guy, let's call him Max, was heart & soul defending the use of CMS and mainly Wordpress; how fast and easy it was for his clients to update their project. Everything should be editable by the client, bar none. Max couldn’t concede anyone was doing any real work without Wordpress (or a CMS).

The problem here is the amount of condescendence he had when explaining his rationale. He was so disrespectful and ridiculed others for thinking differently than him. Telling to go back “Learn the web” before replying again. Calling people out by names. How you must be stupid for not using Wordpress [sic].

At one point, Max even said to another dev: Your replies make me want to punch you in the teeth. WHAT?

Don’t get me wrong: I love confidence. I love that you can have a strong opinion on a subject. You can talk about the ins-and-outs of Wordpress, that's great! I don’t think you can’t make it far in this industry if you have passion but communication is key. When I used to teach to young designers, one of the things I would tell them to remember is this: communication skills are as essential as your main craft. You can be the best designer in the world, but if you can’t explain yourself or sell your ideas, the best communicator will always win over you even if the work is less good.

What's even worse is that Max had good arguments, he was making sense. Wordpress is indeed great for many situations, especially in the advertising/marketing industry. And yes, it's a CMS used by many, yes it's easy to find resources online. Had he stayed respectful, others would have learned a thing or two. Others would have probably agreed with him.

Instead, he became irrelevant. No one wants to deal with such a character. His ego was so big that his arguments were lost in the wild. Everyone stopped listening. Only because he wasn't able to communicate well.

It’s essential for your career to master how to communicate and to stay open-minded. People will continually have different views than yours. Listen to them first. Make your point after. Help them understand your point of view. If they don’t; at least you tried. Stay humble. You will start getting people’s attention. There’s no place for condescendence. Ever.

DEV Community: Hugues Tennier

On condescendence