Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
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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
#2Interesting article. Definitely something to keep in mind when hiring. It's crazy how much damage one person can do to a team (and vice-versa, I've seen one person change entire team dynamics).
It's also really important to be careful with jerks who think they are brilliant, even if they are. There's always someone smarter out there and clever solutions aren't always the best solutions if no one can understand them.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#3Definitely. Still the case in the post represents a very soft version of the type, comparing to who you can really come across at work.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#4It's never fun to have a jerk on your team, no matter how good he is at what he does.
True brilliance includes the ability to recognize and govern how you are affecting others.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#5In my experience this type of person can only exist in your organization if their manager is below average. I have come across my share of them and every time if their manager was a dud the whole company suffered, if their manager was on the ball they would put structure around the jerk to achieve a net improvement in productivity without the negativity.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#6I read articles like this somethings and think "holy shit I hope I'm not a jerk" - but then I relax when I realize I'm not brilliant enough for that to matter.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#7When the product is truly technically innovative you need this people. When you are building CRUD apps, not so much.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#8It 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.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#9Honestly, I was always happy to have good developers. The better you are, the bigger pain in the but you can be, as far as I am concerned as long as the code you are delivering is excellent. I am perfectly happy to work around your quirks, within reason of course.
And, of course you will be a jerk when you are seeing things others just can't and they can't understand you. After a while you lose patience.
What good developer can bring to a team is more valuable then 3-4 polite junior devs that have enthusiasm (which I value also highly) but can't produce quality stuff.
So two essential qualities in my view are: being really good, have excellent foundations and being open to learning and coaching if you don't have those.
Re: Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth
#10Honestly, I was always happy to have good developers. The better you are, the bigger pain in the but you can be, as far as I am concerned as long as the code you are delivering is excellent. I am perfectly happy to work around your quirks, within reason of course. And, of course you will be a jerk when you are seeing things others just can't and they can't understand you. After a while you lose patience. What good de…
I think it is important to match coworkers by their caliber. You're right, if you have one really amazing developer and a bunch of mediocre developers that one really good developer could become bitter.