Cognitive Dissonance Has Become The Default

Until we end this desperate conflict, inequality, unfairness, and continual suffering will continue to reign supreme in the Grand Game!

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels

We’re all familiar with the concept of cognitive dissonance, particularly in the Grand Game of Software Engineering where we’re regularly required to hold two or two conflicting points of view in our minds on a regular basis and find some way to be comfortable with the frustration, anxiety, and often irrational anger it may cause.

In fact, dwelling on such dissonance can be a source of enormous stress and in no way contributes to our wellbeing. So, let’s ask ourselves, why is it allowed to continue by people such as HR, for example, who’re supposed, in these post-pandemic¹ times, to have our wellbeing at the very heart of their modern corporate culture mandate?

Such distressingly dissonant events in the Grand Game include, but are in no way limited to:

• Performance goals bear no relation to actual work done, are rated by someone who both isn’t technical and isn’t at all familiar with either the subject matter of contributions, yet they are supposed to be a fair reflection on performance and ultimate directly relate to any pay rises awarded.
• Project Managers are put in charge of software engineering projects, often having little…