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Be careful of who you work with

chadfowler.com

11–20 of 39 posts

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#11
When I click on 'continue reading...' it doesn't do anything. Is there supposed to be more to the article? The last sentence I got was :

     If you’re a teacher, go where the students care about what they’re learning.

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#12

"always be the worst musician in every band you’re in" -- GOLD! FYI, the continue reading link either shouldn't be on the page, or it should take you to the rest of the article - not sure if I got everything or not.

I found another formulation in reddit, a few days ago, that you might like also: "if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room".

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#13
I am pretty strongly affected by the environment that I'm in, so this post really hits home for me, but there's a conflict I can't resolve about always being the worst x in your collective noun:

Why would a collective that is better than you, which probably subscribes to this moderately common notion, hire you?

I guess Harpo had the same problem.

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#14
post #9

"always be the worst musician in every band you’re in" -- GOLD! FYI, the continue reading link either shouldn't be on the page, or it should take you to the rest of the article - not sure if I got everything or not.

It sounds great but most places seem to hire based on current abilities or previous accomplishments, not potential, so how does one go about implementing this advice for anything other than an entry level position?

Of all the places I've worked as an employee, I've always been around people smarter than me. I never found it difficult to find them. Maybe this is because I'm not very smart! :-) I like to think it's because I looked for them. Even if they weren't in my direct group of peers, they were somewhere in the company and easy to associate with. Without fail, if I became the top person in my group, it was time to move up or move out.

The only real time I've had a problem with this is when consulting. I usually WAS the expert, or at least perceived expert, and had difficulty finding people to work with that could elevate me to the next level. The easy solution to this is to go to local meetups with people who share your passion.

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#15

"always be the worst musician in every band you’re in" -- GOLD! FYI, the continue reading link either shouldn't be on the page, or it should take you to the rest of the article - not sure if I got everything or not.

When I was a TA in college I gave similar advice to my students: If you are the best person in your study group, you are in the wrong study group. Now, the problem is, on a purely meritocratic level, the better study groups do not want to have you because you are slowing them down. You gotta bring something else to the table so they let you in. What that special something is, everybody has to figure that out for himself. I can't help you with that.

I am definitely seeing lots of parallels to work and other aspects of life here.

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#16

I am pretty strongly affected by the environment that I'm in, so this post really hits home for me, but there's a conflict I can't resolve about always being the worst x in your collective noun: Why would a collective that is better than you, which probably subscribes to this moderately common notion, hire you? I guess Harpo had the same problem.

>I guess Harpo had the same problem.

Actually it was Groucho who uttered the phrase to which you refer. However a little research shows that it was apparently originally from the "Forsyte Saga" novels about edwardian era upper-middle-class british life. You learn something new every day.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#17
post #7

I would have preferred the title, "Recognize who you're working with" I have worked with many programmers and it's not always readily apparent who is better than me and who is not. And of course, some are better than me in some things but not others. We don't always have the luxury of choosing who we work with, and have even less chance of only picking those better than us. So it's probably more practical to learn wh…

[deleted]

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#18

I am pretty strongly affected by the environment that I'm in, so this post really hits home for me, but there's a conflict I can't resolve about always being the worst x in your collective noun: Why would a collective that is better than you, which probably subscribes to this moderately common notion, hire you? I guess Harpo had the same problem.

>I guess Harpo had the same problem. Actually it was Groucho who uttered the phrase to which you refer. However a little research shows that it was apparently originally from the "Forsyte Saga" novels about edwardian era upper-middle-class british life. You learn something new every day. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx

Two things for me today! Thank you.

Re: Be careful of who you work with

#20
post #7

I would have preferred the title, "Recognize who you're working with" I have worked with many programmers and it's not always readily apparent who is better than me and who is not. And of course, some are better than me in some things but not others. We don't always have the luxury of choosing who we work with, and have even less chance of only picking those better than us. So it's probably more practical to learn wh…

Exactly, 'careful' implies that you are a powerless sheep - which is actually true for an alarming percentage of the population.

I think Paul Buchheit's recent article 'Two paths to success' does a very good job of illustrating the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Seems like one's personal ratio of extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation can be used as a sort of co-efficient that limits or enhances how you are influenced by your network. Further, if you pick some of the most intrinsically motivated entrepreneurs and innovators, you will find many people who will actually be affected negatively by what their network is doing.

In my opinion, for the sake of innovation, the world needs far more entrepreneurs and technologists who are highly intrinsically motivated, and far far less people who are so impressionable that the need to be 'careful' about who they work with. Just like you say, there is something to be learned from everyone.

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