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Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

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Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#11

Post by lsc »

yeah, well, part of it depends on how smart you are.

As the article said, you need someone who fits in to the team, someone strong where the rest of you are weak.

Me, I'm kinda dumb (well, I mean, I qualify for mensa, but only just. Meaning, compared to most really good programmers, I'm kindof dumb) But I'm really good at dealing with people who are less socially able, so for me, it makes sense to hire the smartest person I can find, at least for technical positions.

If I were smarter, and/or if I had a harder time getting along with people, or if I was hiring a marketing and/or bizdev guy, hiring down might make a lot of sense.

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#14

Post by tptacek »

nihilocrat wrote: post #13
tptacek wrote: post #5

Hence Joel's (much more concise) hiring criteria: Smart, Gets Things Done.

Not all your employees should be like that, though. http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/06/done-and-gets-things...

I still don't really understand what Yegge was trying to say with this essay. It seems to boil down to, "Very Very Smart, And Gets Things Done".

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#15

Post by nihilocrat »

fallentimes wrote: post #7

Diggy title with common sense advice.

Hire really good people. Your concept of "good" might be flawed, so think really hard about it.

You could get more insight by just sitting your team around a table and talking about it rather than going on the word of some dude on the internet.

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#16

Post by nihilocrat »

tptacek wrote: post #14
nihilocrat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all your employees should be like that, though. http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/06/done-and-gets-things...

I still don't really understand what Yegge was trying to say with this essay. It seems to boil down to, "Very Very Smart, And Gets Things Done".

I have to agree. I think he might be trying to turn "Smart, and gets things done" into a two-tiered system so you can clearly decide that, in some cases, it's okay to go with the bright guy with an unimpressive resume, and in others, you really need to dig for someone who is exceptionally talented and has enough experience to teach rather than learn.

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#17

Post by tptacek »

nihilocrat wrote: post #16
tptacek wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still don't really understand what Yegge was trying to say with this essay. It seems to boil down to, "Very Very Smart, And Gets Things Done".

I have to agree. I think he might be trying to turn "Smart, and gets things done" into a two-tiered system so you can clearly decide that, in some cases, it's okay to go with the bright guy with an unimpressive resume, and in others, you really need to dig for someone who is exceptionally talented and has enough experience to teach rather than learn.

All essay critiquing aside: '''strong disagree''' on on the idea that you want/need to go past [[gets things done]] in an early stage startup. You need the mo'; you don't need the architecture you're going to run on 2 years from now.

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#18

Post by fallentimes »

nihilocrat wrote: post #15
fallentimes wrote: post #7

Diggy title with common sense advice.

Hire really good people. Your concept of "good" might be flawed, so think really hard about it. You could get more insight by just sitting your team around a table and talking about it rather than going on the word of some dude on the internet.

I don't think I used that word or explained my concept of it. But I'll try to think really hard about it anyway.

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#19

Post by nihilocrat »

fallentimes wrote: post #18
nihilocrat wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hire really good people. Your concept of "good" might be flawed, so think really hard about it. You could get more insight by just sitting your team around a table and talking about it rather than going on the word of some dude on the internet.

I don't think I used that word or explained my concept of it. But I'll try to think really hard about it anyway.

I wasn't talking about you, I meant the universal "you" ('one' as in 'one should', like 'man' in German). I was just agreeing with your assessment. :)

Re: Don’t Hire The Smartest Guy

#20

Post by fallentimes »

nihilocrat wrote: post #19
fallentimes wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think I used that word or explained my concept of it. But I'll try to think really hard about it anyway.

I wasn't talking about you , I meant the universal "you" ('one' as in 'one should', like 'man' in German). I was just agreeing with your assessment. :)

That makes much more sense. Thanks for clarifying :).
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