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Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

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Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#271

Post by hinkley »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #260
hinkley wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try to limit myself to being no more than 50% of the comments on a review. I know what that probably sounds like, but with experience, and especially if you study ergonomics like I do, you learn that certain patterns of code that look OK are actually accidents waiting to happen. This bizarre pattern you're using has caused 3 regressions already, and we are not interested in there being a 4th. To keep it to a dull r…

Wonderful technique! Its essentially 'mentoring the crowd' by constructive participation and modeling good social behavior. I have used a technique learned early on when I was a young jerk. Instead of arguing with folks in a group, I would sit one-on-one and discuss an issue (e.g. how are we going to structure the new project). I would start with a savvy experienced team member (ok John McGinty was his name) and get…

    I have used a technique learned early on when I was a young jerk. Instead of arguing with folks in a group, I would sit one-on-one and discuss an issue (e.g. how are we going to structure the new project). I would start with a savvy experienced team member (ok John McGinty was his name) and get a consensus between us.
I used to do that and it worked very well. But then they took offices away and now every idea gets shit on before you or they can even articulate it fully. Now I have to wait until the mistakes have been made - repeatedly - and discuss alternatives in retrospectives.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#272

Post by spacemanmatt »

gydfi wrote: post #122
spacemanmatt wrote: post #66

The only "10x" developer I have worked with taught me not only a ton about agile teams, but also about the liberal use of interpersonal skills in advancement of that goal. We routinely worked with education administrators (former teachers) who all had classroom experience and professional interpersonal skills training. It was amazing to work with people you could simply expect respect from, even when everyone was wel…

I don't believe in 10x developers, but I've seen a lot of 0.1x developers.

I believe I caveated the term enough by putting "10x" in quotes. I don't strictly believe in it either. This guy was great at organizing a team and a full-stack project back when distributed apps on a pure OSS stack was still a bit of an accomplishment.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#273

Post by ktRolster »

TheOneTrueKyle wrote: post #267
ktRolster wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question is, what have you done recently to improve your skillset? If you regularly improve your skills, you won't be in that situation for long.

I don't agree with this. It is really about who you know. I never got a job because of skills

Do you not have any skills? lol

People want to know you because you have skills. If you don't have any skills or assets, people will drop you like a hot bucket.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#274

Post by chillacy »

TheOneTrueKyle wrote: post #266
chillacy wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part yourself. What isn't part ourselves doesn't disturb us." - Hermann Hesse, Demian "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." - Carl Jung Playing high status at work could be a coping mechanism. Honestly, if you're unhappy just quit and go work someplace where people are smarter than you are. But if this feeling…

What does being smart have to do with anything? Smart doesn't equal interesting. Plenty of smart people around me.

Ok, more interesting than you are.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#275

Post by dcposch »

89379232 wrote: post #118
dcposch wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Brilliant jerks are often to be found at the beating heart of successful software. Exhibit 0: Linus Torvalds

He may flame on mailing lists from time to time, but I prefer an honest character to CoC thumping Machiavellis who talk and behave like politburo members. The latter actually harm and exclude people while acting politely; Linus does not.

Completely agree.

I have near unlimited respect for Linus. He has an allergy to bullshit. He does not mince words when preventing any kind bad code or needless complexity from entering the kernel.

The same things that make some people consider him an "asshole" are the same things that make him so effective.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#276

Post by Mikho »

When the whole team feels uncomfortable as a result of one person behaviour, it's time to get rid of this bad apple—total output will be bigger than one person being brilliant and the whole team unproductive.

For 10 years I had outsourcing studio and once one of my programmers was that bad apple. At first he was nice, but then in couple months showed his real character. After four months of pain for everybody I fired him. Never again would I tolerate such situation.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#277

Post by ktRolster »

mudbutt wrote: post #230
bigdataanswers wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isnt this a very python thing. Arent all the "brillant jerks" python and ruby programmers. Java and C/C++ guys are the actually smart dudes that know what they are doing and PHP guys just want to get it working and dont give a fuck.

I can't imagine any smart developers using Ruby anyone, I know because I unfortunately work with Rails and anyone with a brain cell has already left. To me deciding to use Rails isn't a very smart decision

What would you use? Serious question, I'm trying to figure this out.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#278

Post by TheOneTrueKyle »

chillacy wrote: post #274
TheOneTrueKyle wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does being smart have to do with anything? Smart doesn't equal interesting. Plenty of smart people around me.

Ok, more interesting than you are.

I spend my nights and weekends working on side projects in the hopes that I can find a job that I like. I have been applying to jobs nonstop since becoming an adult and will continue to do so until I find something that will make me happy.

I definitely do these things constantly in the hopes of finding something that will make me happy, but after almost 10 years and nothing really to show for it, it can cause someone to go insane.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#279

Post by TheOneTrueKyle »

ktRolster wrote: post #273
TheOneTrueKyle wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree with this. It is really about who you know. I never got a job because of skills

Do you not have any skills? lol People want to know you because you have skills. If you don't have any skills or assets, people will drop you like a hot bucket.

Of course improving skills is always essential in anything in life. That doesn't help you get a job.
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