Disagree with Your Boss

"What a fantastic idea!" says ChatGPT to anything you tell it.

Don't be a "yes-machine" to your boss -- she already has one. When you disagree with something, say it -- that is your value. Remember that you are not making your manager's life harder by doing this! Quite the opposite -- if you disagree thoughtfully, you're giving your manager something valuable that others won't.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean you should be rude. Be sensitive and remember that the ways to disagree are very different in different cultures.

If your manager is North American, you might use the "yes, and" method: "Yes, X is a good idea, and I think we should also consider Y."

In many cultures, public disagreement reads as disrespect -- so the tactic is different. Wait for a 1:1, frame it as a question ("Have we considered Y?"), or follow up in writing where the manager can respond at their own pace (for a deeper dive into cross-cultural communication, I highly recommend Erin Meyer's book "The Culture Map").

Still, the core idea stays the same: your main value as an engineer is NOT your ability to write code (an LLM can do it well). Your value is your judgement. And if your judgment is underutilized because you keep saying "what a great idea, boss" (role-playing ChatGPT) -- then what do you bring?

Yes, your judgment will not always be right -- often, you will disagree, and you will be wrong. That's fine -- be ready to accept it. The question to ask yourself is not "who's right?" but "what's the best path forward?". It's all about solving the problem -- and if you think you have a better solution, don't hide it!