Can't you do "pretend" work as a developer at work?

[H.E. Pennypacker]

This question is directed at developers who develop software for a living. My question is...can't you do "pretend" work since not every developer goes at the same pace and your supervisor should have no definite way of knowing whether you're really working at your full potential?

So, you could go to work each day, do a little programming here and there, and if someone asks you why you only accomplished little, you could always say "Hey, hey! It was a REALLY difficult program."

I am not encouraging pretend work, but I guess developers should have an easy time with it unless there are certain set goals you must reach within a period of time.

In case pretend work is possible, any of you guys do it? Ever been caught?

[LordHunter317]

This is why everyone who's managed competently has set goals and gets in trouble for not meeting them.

Not to say there aren't still tons of ways to exploit the system, but excessive goofing off (read: so it's a deteriment to work) is usually curtailed under good management.

Proper planning is something most programmers and managers don't understand, and it's important to include "goof off" time in your time estimation.

Why? Because if you're stuck on something, focusing on something else can help clear your head. If I get stuck with a problem I can't come up with a clever solution with, I like to take a break and browse the web or go for a walk or do something else. Frequently, the answer will hit me in the middle of the break session.

That being said, getting managers behind this sort of thinking can be difficult, even though such behavior has been studied and documented to some degree in more formal engineering. There's a lot of material showing that solutions to problems frequently come after taking a break from working on them. A good and well-known example is the engineer who goes to bed and wakes up finding the solution to the problem that plagued him the day before.

[ifokkema]

This question is directed at developers who develop software for a living. My question is...can't you do "pretend" work since not every developer goes at the same pace and your supervisor should have no definite way of knowing whether you're really working at your full potential?
Surely it's possible. I guess the main question is: does your supervisor know what you're doing? My supervisor does not know a thing about programming. Sometimes he askes me if something is even remotely possible to code, and I can tell him it just takes me a couple of minutes. Other times he tells me to just quickly implement something today, and I will have to ask him if he's expecting me to finish this week. He just doesn't have a clue and therefor I could easily tell him something simple takes a long time to code. What does he know? Also, I just don't have any skilled programmers around me, but that just my working environment.

I might want to add that allthough I may not work as fast as possible every day, I still do my best :) I don't pretend working just because I actually like programming :D

[sapo]

Hum.. its not like you can pretend everyday, there are times when your boss come to you and say:

"I NEED THIS BY TOMORROW, FINISH IT, I DONT CARE IF YOU DONT EAT OR SLEEP".

And there are times when you have a schedule and finish it very quickly.. so these times you have to get lazy and just pretend you didnt finish so you can get some rest, cause if you say you are finished, the next time the schedule will be shorter and you will get in trouble :p

[drippy]

My supervisor does not know a thing about programming.

I was actually going to say quite the opposite. I guess it depends on the company, but I was going to say that if your job is programming, then it's highly likely your manager is also someone technical who can set realistic deadlines for the team, and that keeps the ball moving. Also, if your work relates to company or division wide milestones, then you still have to meet those, regardless of if you want to work fast or slow.

[pelle.k]

If I get stuck with a problem I can't come up with a clever solution with, I like to take a break and browse the web or go for a walk or do something else. Frequently, the answer will hit me in the middle of the break session.
This happens to me all the time. The unconscious is a powerful tool. You just need to know how to "steer" it. Unfortunately, this is often considered fiction, just like hypnosis was some years ago.