[HN Gopher] Nice Problems to Have (2020)
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Nice Problems to Have (2020)
Author : apsec112
Score : 24 points
Date : 2021-07-17 04:53 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (notebook.drmaciver.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (notebook.drmaciver.com)
| drewcoo wrote:
| To the author of the piece:
|
| Yes, we all know what "nice problems to have" means. Nobody is
| trying to fool you. They're offering a different perspective. And
| the obsessive focus on your problems is the reason people offer
| that perspective shift.
| karaterobot wrote:
| When we say "... but it's a nice problem to have", what we're
| often doing is indicating that we're complaining in order to vent
| frustration or anxiety we're feeling, and that the person we're
| talking to isn't expected to take any action other than offering
| sympathy. Translate it as "this sucks, but I'll be fine".
| coldtea wrote:
| > _What we generally mean when we say "nice problem to have" is
| that the preconditions for having this problem are nice to have.
| i.e. you cannot have this problem unless some other nice thing
| happens first. This is not at all a reliable predictor of the
| amount of suffering involved._
|
| Doesn't matter, because at that point you've already made
| millions/billions...
|
| That's kind of the whole point: that a "nice problem to have"
| emerges only when it can no longer be a catastrophic loss of your
| early startup, but an annoyance in your mature and company
| (perhaps after you're already sold it, IPOed, and made millions).
| At that point it's not your problem as a CEO/CTO/etc anymore,
| it's just a case of throwing money at some engineers to fix the
| thing.
|
| E.g. who gives a fuck if PHP was not robust of the early
| architecture not scalable enough for Facebook? They've already
| made billions by the point it became an issue, and they trivially
| threw money and engineers and fixed it eventually...
|
| Whereas obsessing over the "right future proof" architecture
| would have likely killed their early momentum, diverted precious
| resources, and so on...
| AlbertCory wrote:
| An addendum to this excellent article:
|
| Perhaps when they say this to you, you should have a little
| perspective and laugh at yourself. It's emotionally healthy.
|
| "I had to fire my cleaning lady today!" OK, remind yourself to be
| grateful you're able to hire a cleaning lady.
| betenoire wrote:
| This article painted a picture in my mind of someone who
| complains often/too much
|
| > My standard response to the concept has often been "Yes but
| nice problems to have are still problems"
|
| "A nice problem to have" is something we should be telling
| ourselves, not having to hear from others. To me, anyway.
| cyberge99 wrote:
| I always interpret the phrase to mean: "that's not a bad thing".
| specifically in contexts such as "we have more demand than
| supply" or "we're hiring a ton of new people".
|
| Typically in contrast to the alternative.
| andai wrote:
| It's lonely at the top...
| amelius wrote:
| > Nice problems to have are the opposite of nice: They isolate
| you from the ability to complain about them, which removes a
| major bonding activity with people who have not been successful
| in the same way as you, and also causes you to feel worse about
| the problems with those who do not share your burden.
|
| Scalability issues are nice problems to have. Not everyone has
| them, but everyone on HN can relate to them. So I don't think the
| premise of the article holds up, really.
| bittercynic wrote:
| I work with some people who are much poorer than me and some much
| richer than me, and it does cause some social confusion about
| what is venting, what is a request for assistance, etc.
|
| Occasionally I hear the much richer people complain about how
| expensive something they want is, as though they think it's
| unfair that they can't afford it. Tough to keep myself from
| resenting their sense of entitlement.
|
| I try to remember not to make the same mistake.
| choeger wrote:
| It's an interesting take and there are certainly real such
| problems. A good example is winning the lottery. Many people that
| did hit the jackpot suffered afterwards.
|
| But I often feel that some "nice problems to have" aren't, after
| all, problems. You are moving from place A to place B on
| $NICE_LAKE and don't know how to accommodate your motorboat on
| place B? Not a problem in my book, barely an inconvenience. Your
| cleaning (let's face it) lady called in sick and you are awaiting
| guests? Sorry, to say that, but it's not something you can bitch
| about.
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