When Smart People are Bad Employees

#1

Post by J3L2404 » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 1:18 AM UTC

When Smart People are Bad Employees
blogs.forbes.com

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#2

Post by mgkimsal » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 1:41 AM UTC

Kinda scary that I see myself in that list - mostly example 1, reason 1 and 2. OTOH, it's a bit heartening to read "sometimes these people actually make better CEOs than employees" - just hard to get most people to take you seriously when you start off at the bottom (not impossible, just typically harder to do than simply getting hired in at the top).

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#3

Post by phaedrus » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 3:10 AM UTC

mgkimsal wrote: post #2

Kinda scary that I see myself in that list - mostly example 1, reason 1 and 2. OTOH, it's a bit heartening to read "sometimes these people actually make better CEOs than employees" - just hard to get most people to take you seriously when you start off at the bottom (not impossible, just typically harder to do than simply getting hired in at the top).

I have bipolar disorder and I definitely identify with his "the flake" story. I wouldn't just not show up like the guy in the story but I do have depressive cycles where I'm not sure I'm doing any good by showing up; I come in anyway. After a while the cycle swings the other way and I get heroic coding done at a (excuse the pun) manic pace. I like to think it comes out more productive on balance. For instance most recently I spent two months studying legacy code but didn't have the right frame of mind to make changes to it. Close to the deadline I had an upswing in mood and completed a total rewrite of the software in three days during which everything I touched turned to gold. Two key points: one, this was (embedded system) code a senior engineer struggled on for 2 years. So even averaging the month during which I did nothing with the week I did everything, I was still more productive by a huge margin. The second key point is I used both halves of my cycle to advantage. I knew I couldn't handle the rewrite while depressed, but what I COULD do was use that fugue state to plod through his old code like a zombie. Even though I didn't feel like I was making progress (and my boss was beginning to worry!) what I was doing was priming my brain with knowledge of what the legacy code did. That way, when the upswing did come, I didn't waste a single second of it.

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#4

Post by alex_c » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 3:22 AM UTC

phaedrus wrote: post #3

mgkimsal wrote: post #2

Kinda scary that I see myself in that list - mostly example 1, reason 1 and 2. OTOH, it's a bit heartening to read "sometimes these people actually make better CEOs than employees" - just hard to get most people to take you seriously when you start off at the bottom (not impossible, just typically harder to do than simply getting hired in at the top).

I have bipolar disorder and I definitely identify with his "the flake" story. I wouldn't just not show up like the guy in the story but I do have depressive cycles where I'm not sure I'm doing any good by showing up; I come in anyway. After a while the cycle swings the other way and I get heroic coding done at a (excuse the pun) manic pace. I like to think it comes out more productive on balance. For instance most re…

Obliquely appropriate username? :)

Just curious, is your boss aware of your cycles, and does he/she plan for them? If not, what effect do you think trying to explain would have?

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#5

Post by wheaties » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 3:27 AM UTC

I've tried very hard not to be one of those people on that list. For a while I was the first, feeling completely helpless to change anything. Then someone within the company helped change some of that for me. Now I've matured to the point where I can objectively look at this company and realize it's a mismatch between my professional goals and the role that they would have me play. Quite simply it's not a software company and that's where I need to work.

Thanks for putting this up. Every time I read something like this is helps keep me in check.

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#6

Post by naner » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 4:05 AM UTC

I'm supposed to take this guy seriously with a lead-in like that? I can't wait for his article on common misconceptions of social propriety among the technically proficient.

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#7

Post by trustfundbaby » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 4:22 AM UTC

wheaties wrote: post #5

I've tried very hard not to be one of those people on that list. For a while I was the first, feeling completely helpless to change anything. Then someone within the company helped change some of that for me. Now I've matured to the point where I can objectively look at this company and realize it's a mismatch between my professional goals and the role that they would have me play. Quite simply it's not a software co…

I feel your pain, that was me a couple of years ago ... moving on was one of the best things I've ever done.

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#8

Post by tom_ilsinszki » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 4:29 AM UTC

"[...] if you’re an entrepreneur, generally you don’t like working with a lot of people. That’s what an entrepreneur is." - Robert Greene on Mixergy

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#9

Post by keeptrying » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 4:35 AM UTC

All said and done you need your "bad" employee more than they need you. Brilliance usually comes at a cost. If you were really a good leader you would have been able to get Rodger some help with his drug problem. And if it had worked he would have repayed you with some amazing work.

Stop fucking complaining about "bad" employees who make you more money than everyone else on the team. Your job IS to deal with them - so deal with it.

Else be happy with the 9-to-5 lifers on you team and shut the fuck up. You'll find that you aren't going to be able todo jack shit with them.

I hate people who post shit like this.

Re: When Smart People are Bad Employees

#10

Post by j_baker » Tue, Jan 04, 2011, 4:41 AM UTC

keeptrying wrote: post #9

All said and done you need your "bad" employee more than they need you. Brilliance usually comes at a cost. If you were really a good leader you would have been able to get Rodger some help with his drug problem. And if it had worked he would have repayed you with some amazing work. Stop fucking complaining about "bad" employees who make you more money than everyone else on the team. Your job IS to deal with them - s…

You know, I'm inclined to agree that one needs to be able to deal with a bit more to get talent. But no amount of leadership can deal with a drug problem. That requires action on Roger's part.

Besides that, this doesn't sound like the typical "Employees aren't good unless they follow my every order to the letter and get along great with every single person in the company" meme that I'm used to hearing. At least there's an acknowledgement that companies might have to deal with these issues in certain cases.