Something happened recently which has caused me to think a lot about engineers and their people skills, and the care we take of each other. A co-worker of mine was let go because of performance problems. I look back on the situation, and wonder what could have been done differently.

Over the course of my career, I’ve seen lots of problems with engineers and their dealings with each other. I’ve written up some ideas, and they all boil down to one radical concept: Engineers are people.