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The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

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Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#91

Post by Pxtl »

teddyh wrote: post #88
Pxtl wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adams has gone a bit nuts in recent years and has become quite a controversial figure. Like, Ive seen him in political flamewars on Twitter responding to criticism with pictures of his abs. He was a little weird for a long time, but his divorce in 2014 kind of unmoored him.

As far as I know, his “cancellation” stems from one thing, and one thing only: He says that Trump is skilled at being convincing (and explains how, at length). This, in the eyes of others, makes him a Trump apologist, and must therefore be shunned. If you had a link to that weird tweet I would like to see it; it would be interesting to see if I agree with your characterization.

It's not just the Trump thing. He loves to butt heads with the social justice types in a way that makes him look awful. Wrote some creepy antifemist blog-posts too.

In the wake of a shooting (can't remember which) he tried to push his WhenHub product as a journalism tool.

And his fence-sitting support of Trump has always been "now I'm no Trump fan but here's a long list of things Trump is good at and I'll be very defensive about criticism".

I was a huge Dilbert fan, so watching his decline sucks.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#92

Post by therealdrag0 »

icelancer wrote: post #90
caiocaiocaio wrote: post #83

The fact that headline points out that it's not bullshit makes it sound like bullshit. When a pitch answers a question that no one asked, it's a pretty good indication that something's wrong. Like when an employer says they're looking for "team players", it means they have an aggressive workplace with a lot of backstabbing. If a restaurant specifically advertised that it was clean, and had a sign saying "clean food a…

Well, we don't really have a choice in Seattle / SF; they hang those signs in every restaurant.

But the sign's content is chosen by external audit right? That's different.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#93

Post by avip »

klenwell wrote: post #89
nogabebop23 wrote: post #66

My experience as a Development Manager for the past ~year (YMMV): 1. I'm playing chess; senior management is playing checkers. No, not because I'm some sort of genius and they are simpletons, but rather they talk about interchangeable "resource units" and I know these FTE's as "Tom" and "Amy", each with specific strenghts and weaker areas. Big strategic plans cannot differentiate but we front-line managers need to fi…

Well stated. Bookmarked. One additional bullet point I would add: Hiring. If an isolated HR unit controls hiring and freezes the hiring managers and team out of the process, or effectively alienates them, you're wasting a huge amount of energy. This is part of the methodology I try to weave into my organizations: - A thoughtful and literate job posting, purged of gratuitous jargon, will accurately describe the job an…

>Candidates will be evaluated using a simple quantitative assessment of core competencies.

I've tried implementing that with a coding take-home task, with "mixed results".

On-paper great candidates often refused.

On-paper good candidates made mistakes because they completed it very quickly, while mediocre candidates invested x10 the time and produced "better objective result".

Comparing code turned out to be much less straightforward or objective than I've anticipated: X handed great consistent well-commented code, but didn't null check inputs, Y covered all cases but left internal class implementation details public, and so on and so forth.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#94

Post by hinkley »

nogabebop23 wrote: post #66

My experience as a Development Manager for the past ~year (YMMV): 1. I'm playing chess; senior management is playing checkers. No, not because I'm some sort of genius and they are simpletons, but rather they talk about interchangeable "resource units" and I know these FTE's as "Tom" and "Amy", each with specific strenghts and weaker areas. Big strategic plans cannot differentiate but we front-line managers need to fi…

From the other side (lead dev) I feel the apathy part pretty acutely.

I go so far as to say I think Hanlon needs a new razor. Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by apathy.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#95

Post by WalterSear »

avip wrote: post #93
klenwell wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well stated. Bookmarked. One additional bullet point I would add: Hiring. If an isolated HR unit controls hiring and freezes the hiring managers and team out of the process, or effectively alienates them, you're wasting a huge amount of energy. This is part of the methodology I try to weave into my organizations: - A thoughtful and literate job posting, purged of gratuitous jargon, will accurately describe the job an…

>Candidates will be evaluated using a simple quantitative assessment of core competencies. I've tried implementing that with a coding take-home task, with "mixed results". On-paper great candidates often refused. On-paper good candidates made mistakes because they completed it very quickly, while mediocre candidates invested x10 the time and produced "better objective result". Comparing code turned out to be much les…

So, what is more effective than a talk home task?

I posit it's still the least bad way to evaluate a candidate. If a 'mediocre' candidate is able to complete the task well, they have still completed the task well.

And, IME, 'great' candidates, even with a storied resumes, can simply be good at self-advancement and job application as much as actual competent at their job.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#96

Post by briefcomment »

Pxtl wrote: post #56
jtms wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this being downvoted? Did Scott Adams get cancelled or something?

Adams has gone a bit nuts in recent years and has become quite a controversial figure. Like, Ive seen him in political flamewars on Twitter responding to criticism with pictures of his abs. He was a little weird for a long time, but his divorce in 2014 kind of unmoored him.

He's still very lucid, creative, and open-minded. If you have the energy to not get offended by ideas, he's a good read.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#98

Post by jen729w »

padraic7a wrote: post #97

Is it very narrow minded of me to think that, even for HN, recognising "culture" as "company culture" demonstrates a very blinkered view of the world?

I think it’s okay to recognise the shorthand and not feel bad about it. The author of this article clearly doesn’t think he’s describing all culture. I didn’t from the link title.

We’re humans, we cut corners. We all understand the intent.

Re: The first non-bullshit book about culture I've read

#99

Post by DanielBMarkham »

DenisM wrote: post #76
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you describe, I just kept sucking it all in, consuming as much as I could. I have self-taught through a few of these subjects. I don't have an answer for you, but I have an answer for me. Perhaps sharing my answer might help you too. I hope so. These are unsolved problems, that's why the material keeps getting produced. I think if you can find inspiration or a good "nutritional meal" to last for a while, it's a…

An unsolicited advice that might cut your learning time in half: Every book gives advice, every advice is an answer to a question. Ignore the answer, but scrutinize the question. For example: "embrace remote work, go remote-first even!" says one book, "face-to-face is the only thing that works in the face of inevitable confusion and complexity" says another. Not helpful, right? However, consider that the first author…

I both strongly agree and strongly disagree with your comment. Not sure, I think this makes me a consultant (smile)

Yes, it does boil down to questions. However questions drive out language, so simply saying that "scrutinizing the question" is the real work is both true and incomplete.

It is an important point, though. Thank you.

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