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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

#31

Post by andreyz4k »

Waterluvian wrote: post #24
beachy wrote: post #13

> A “No Jerks” Policy Must Be Built Into Your Culture. It is entirely possible to be extremely passionate (and even brilliant) without being a jerk. A “no jerks” policy must be preached and practiced from the highest levels. Following simplistic rules like this is usually what leaves us knee deep in the proverbial. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never worked with anyone who's as much of a jerk as described in the ar…

Hey that's me! I had a frustrating moment the other day where a colleague said that float(5) was more explicit and personally preferred in Python than a literal 5.0 I realised I was being pedantic but I genuinely believed in "good craftsmanship" when I really pushed him to change it. I need to get better at this because the social friction I caused may cost more than the poor craftsmanship. But the other part of me i…

By the way, float(5) is slower, because it creates two objects instead of one.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#32

Post by treebeard901 »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #20
mjfl wrote: post #8

It just sounds like that person was not a good match for the company culture. Many shops will appreciate that kind of drive and attention to detail, as well as the ability to tolerate potentially biting criticism that comes with it. I would have happily hired him away from the author's company.

> ability to tolerate potentially biting criticism that comes with it I wonder if this is the issue really. Some people can't take criticism unless wrapped in sugar. If it's really, and especially if it comes with potential alternatives it should be socially fine, but it's not.

Another aspect is how the rest of the team felt over time. They probably built up deep resentment towards this person which ultimately only fed back into the cycle. So whether or not they were aware of it, they probably formed a clique to team up against this person, again only exacerbating the core issue.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#35

Post by analogwzrd »

My first senior engineer was a "brilliant" jerk. He had decades of experience, but when I started digging into his work I realized that he was useful mainly because he was offering solutions to problems that he created. I've heard some people say that a good engineer will eliminate the need for his/her own job. This guy was actively creating a need for himself by causing problems without management realizing it.

About 1 out of every 10 ideas was a good idea, but you had to know how to filter out the bad ones. If you said "no" to one of his bad ideas, he'd say that you weren't listening to his input and complain to your manager.

He was abrasive, condescending, and dominated every meeting. If you said anything to management, their response was "Oh that's just Bob, what a crazy, quirky, eccentric guy!" What they refused to realize was that being Bob's peer was very different than working for Bob. What management perceived as a quirk, was a character flaw that made life hell for anyone working underneath Bob.

And to echo other comments, nothing was done about Bob because management didn't want to take responsibility for the culture of the company. Why risk negatively impacting profits by actually managing your employee when you could blame it on millennials being whiny and you believe that engineers are interchangeable?

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#36

Post by tn13 »

beachy wrote: post #13

> A “No Jerks” Policy Must Be Built Into Your Culture. It is entirely possible to be extremely passionate (and even brilliant) without being a jerk. A “no jerks” policy must be preached and practiced from the highest levels. Following simplistic rules like this is usually what leaves us knee deep in the proverbial. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never worked with anyone who's as much of a jerk as described in the ar…

Steve Jobs has been a well known jerk. It helped apple to have him.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#37

Post by braveo »

beachy wrote: post #13

> A “No Jerks” Policy Must Be Built Into Your Culture. It is entirely possible to be extremely passionate (and even brilliant) without being a jerk. A “no jerks” policy must be preached and practiced from the highest levels. Following simplistic rules like this is usually what leaves us knee deep in the proverbial. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never worked with anyone who's as much of a jerk as described in the ar…

I stopped reading when the blogger started talking about the "brilliant developer who could code circles around us", and then referred to him as a "10x developer".

These are stereotypes, and quite often bloggers will make up stories to illustrate a point. Which is fine, but when your point is based upon stereotypes, then I'm not interested.

----

So with that said, I agree with everything you've said. Quite often these abrasive people are making valid points.

You know those security scandals that hit (Playstation network getting hacked, etc) where you think to yourself "how the fuck did they manage it so badly, because their fuckup wasn't subtle at all.

You KNOW there was an abrasive jerk somewhere in there saying "guys... this is horrible" and he or she got shouted down, shutdown, and/or fired for it.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#38

Post by gregtran »

beachy wrote: post #13

> A “No Jerks” Policy Must Be Built Into Your Culture. It is entirely possible to be extremely passionate (and even brilliant) without being a jerk. A “no jerks” policy must be preached and practiced from the highest levels. Following simplistic rules like this is usually what leaves us knee deep in the proverbial. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never worked with anyone who's as much of a jerk as described in the ar…

I'd rather have a brilliant jerk than a regular jerk.

But regular jerks abound at work because they at least don't make you feel stupid and insulted.

And you hit the nail on the head with your experiences. In high school I was neck-and-neck academically with a brilliant jerk. He went to Harvard, is now a millionaire (without inheriting it) and a much nicer person. Competing with him was one of the most formative periods of my life. He made me better, because I learned not to take harsh criticism and hectoring so seriously. Look at what they do (for you), not what they say (to you).

I actually wish there were a brilliant jerk like him in my workplace. But there are just regular jerks.

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#39

Post by basking2 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #24
beachy wrote: post #13

> A “No Jerks” Policy Must Be Built Into Your Culture. It is entirely possible to be extremely passionate (and even brilliant) without being a jerk. A “no jerks” policy must be preached and practiced from the highest levels. Following simplistic rules like this is usually what leaves us knee deep in the proverbial. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never worked with anyone who's as much of a jerk as described in the ar…

Hey that's me! I had a frustrating moment the other day where a colleague said that float(5) was more explicit and personally preferred in Python than a literal 5.0 I realised I was being pedantic but I genuinely believed in "good craftsmanship" when I really pushed him to change it. I need to get better at this because the social friction I caused may cost more than the poor craftsmanship. But the other part of me i…

I've found the first few chapters of _Crucial Conversations_ extremely useful.

Manager-Tools.com speaks very well to relationships being very valuable, worth more than float(5) vs 5.0... though... I really do agree. Float(5)? Really? And 5 should be replaced with IntNoReallyItJustAnInt(5)?? ;)

Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

#40

Post by kbuchanan »

While I don't doubt the author's employer did the right thing – to fire the individual – I think the subsequent logic (e.g. guard against "jerks" at all costs!) is a dangerous train of thought, one which is more likely to pigeon-hole human beings.

In reality, no person is "simply a jerk". Each of us sits somewhere on a spectrum of intolerance towards others for one reason or another. It's healthy to learn how to work with people of all stripes – even individuals who can, at times, be abrasive.

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