Episode 514: Trust issues and underperformers and my coworker resents me for being faster

About this episode

Dave and Jamison discuss trust issues within a parent organization and the challenges of underperforming coworkers.

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: My parent organization has trust issues: we registered on a recent survey as one of the lowest across the bigger software org (thousands of employees). There are two groups: functional, trustworthy people who get stuff done, and people who are behind, stuck, or just not working. Those struggling say they need better emotional support, but there is consistent, documented evidence that they cannot keep up. I’m perpetually frustrated that there are only two or three people in an org of 30 who can effectively complete tasks and manage the insane workload. I am biased: those in whom I have no trust have repeatedly demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. I believe that the organization would be able to go faster without them. Whats the right answer here? Should I start my own company to abandon this mess? Do we cut scope super aggressively to allow underperformers to be reasonable contributors? One example: one of these contributors was walked through the process, given written documentation of the process, verbally confirmed an understanding of the process, and committed to starting that day. And then two days later…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jamison Dance, Dave Smith

Topics covered

• trust issues
• underperformance
• emotional support
• workload management
• organizational efficiency

Keywords

• trust issues
• underperformers
• emotional support
• workload
• organizational efficiency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: parent organization, software org

More episodes of Soft Skills Engineering

• Episode 516: Not a baby and my product manager doesn't know the product · June 8, 2026 · 37 min
• Episode 515: My junior team member won't listen to me and will I be the dumbest employee at a quantum computer company? · June 1, 2026 · 35 min
• Episode 513: Forgotten employee and what skills actually matter in the AI world · May 18, 2026 · 37 min
• Episode 512: Can non-engineers really contribute code with AI and not sharing · May 11, 2026 · 43 min
• Episode 511: Should I take a temporary management position and performance-based bonuses · May 4, 2026 · 35 min
• Episode 510: Old and behind and how do I hang on for the last few years until retirement? · April 27, 2026 · 34 min