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The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

blog.idonethis.com

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Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#11

Post by greyboy »

crazygringo wrote: post #5

> Peter Thiel said PayPal once rejected a top­-notch engineering candidate because he said during an interview that he liked to play “hoops,” and a PayPal engineer does not play basketball, much less “hoops.” > Carwoo is a company that’s a little weird, so they ask every interviewee how weird she thinks she is on a scale of 1 to 5. There is a right answer. 3­-4 is the sweet spot ­­a weird person who is self-­aware. I…

I thought those were rather lame. Even most of my _friends_ don't have the same interests as I do.

Plus, in my basketball playing years, that was a great example of teamwork.

Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#12

Post by iyulaev »

RDeckard wrote: post #10
dschiptsov wrote: post #2

At Linux kernel, they just write code, test and send patches.)

Do they get paid to do that? If no one got paid, there would be almost no need for performance reviews.

Because if you don't get paid in $$$, you're free to do shoddy work...?

Crap work has costs that far exceed the amount spent employing the person who produced it.

Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#14

Post by sontek »

crazygringo wrote: post #5

> Peter Thiel said PayPal once rejected a top­-notch engineering candidate because he said during an interview that he liked to play “hoops,” and a PayPal engineer does not play basketball, much less “hoops.” > Carwoo is a company that’s a little weird, so they ask every interviewee how weird she thinks she is on a scale of 1 to 5. There is a right answer. 3­-4 is the sweet spot ­­a weird person who is self-­aware. I…

In my experience, a happy team, is a good team. We tried a lot of different interviewing tactics and had hit or miss results. Now our interview is just going out for beer or coffee with the candidate and bullshitting for a few hours.

If they aren't smart or not fun to hang around with it usually comes out in those few hours. We've had 100% success rate.

Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#15

Post by yuhong »

pinko wrote: post #8
yuhong wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I think these laws are likely fundamentally flawed anyway, as hiring is subjective.

Just because hiring is subjective doesn't mean everyone is equally subjective with respect to race/gender/etc. I mean, aesthetics are subjective too but most people prefer not to have poo on a pedestal in their living room. You can find strong and widespread biases (e.g., against fecal art) even in a subjective domain.

Not what I mean. I am thinking in terms of proving discrimination etc.

Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#16

Post by dschiptsov »

RDeckard wrote: post #10
dschiptsov wrote: post #2

At Linux kernel, they just write code, test and send patches.)

Do they get paid to do that? If no one got paid, there would be almost no need for performance reviews.

Being honest (with yourself and others) in what you do is enough.

Re: The art of getting stuff done without bossing around

#17

Post by alphadogg »

To me, this is a blog post chock full of anecdotal evidence to support a determined, central, dare I say biased, thesis. I find it continually amazing that people don't see this, from simple blog posts like this one, to now-famous books like "Good To Great" and other airport middle-management best-sellers.

Not that anything is wrong with that. Obviously, if you are interested in other people's opinion in this domain, it's likely you feel you are doing something wrong. And, trying different methods can jog whatever dynamic you are in that you feel doesn't work.

But, it's a big step from that to some of the opinions-as-fact (and eventually into "methodologies", "movements" and "manifestos") that sprout from such starting points.

I don't think anyone has the one magic bullet for "best. management style. evar."

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