Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#1

Post by JabavuAdams » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 6:38 PM UTC

Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)
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Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#2

Post by jey » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:33 PM UTC

tl;dr?

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#3

Post by zem » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:34 PM UTC

that was fascinating. reminded me a bit of the protagonist in grossmith's "diary of a nobody", but without the petulant self-absorption masquerading as modesty. the author has genuinely sat down and thought long and deeply about who he is, what his strengths and limitations are, and how he can best work with other people, and he's a great writer to boot.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#4

Post by zem » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:36 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #2

tl;dr?

seriously? it's an excellent piece of writing and not all that long; just go read it.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#5

Post by robobro » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:36 PM UTC

Good ego masturbation for project managers if nothing else. But personally, I don't think hiring dunces for programmers or whatever else would be a right answer for startups. You only want boring, regular people for boring, regular work. For extraordinary tasks, you need those with extraordinary talent. No one else will do.

The narrator in this story... how good is he at his work? All that I can gather from it is that he hired the wrong guy and then continued to allow him to make wrong decisions. If anything, he did more harm for the company by trusting someone who hadn't produced results. The character he's speaking down to and writing off is only acting within his ability, his experience, and his competence. It's really quite funny!

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#6

Post by DickingAround » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:36 PM UTC

He bends the meaning of words like 'brilliant' a bit and clearly lives in a time where there are no such thing as protected classes (e.g. medical) but there's a lot of value in remembering that most people develop wealth by managing risk, knowing our limits, and finishing what we start.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#7

Post by robobro » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:37 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #2

tl;dr?

Guy is supposedly the best in his field but doesn't get any work done. Boss gives him free reign before seeing results and ends up disappointed.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#8

Post by deedubaya » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:42 PM UTC

Every time I see this, I enjoy reading it. It is a good reminder.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#9

Post by deedubaya » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:45 PM UTC

zem wrote: post #4

jey wrote: post #2

tl;dr?

seriously? it's an excellent piece of writing and not all that long; just go read it.

If they're looking for the short way out, I don't know if they'll get any value out of actually reading it.

Re: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men (1924)

#10

Post by rthomas6 » Thu, Mar 20, 2014, 7:48 PM UTC

jey wrote: post #2

tl;dr?

People who are driven by genius and passion never finish anything. This guy finds the best employees and businessmen are just average hard workers who pay attention to detail.