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Everyone is commenting on the mismanagement angle here, which is very real, but I think it's also important to point out that the author is simply wrong about "

Everyone is commenting on the mismanagement angle here, which is very real, but I think it's also important to point out that the author is simply wrong about "Rick" being a genius if the descriptions of his behavior and work product are accurate. I think there's a huge myth about solitary geniuses who are assholes. I've yet to meet someone I consider really genius who is also a toxic asshole. Maybe occasionally you run into geniuses who are a little shy or socially awkward, but by and large the defining factors of the true geniuses I've worked with have always been a desire to share with the team, improve everyone around them and contribute deeply to the product. Their code is maintainable and other engineers totally get it and when they don't the genius is there to walk them through it, taking notes on how they can make it easier to understand next time. They hate the idea of being a dependency/SPOF, and they are extremely accountable for very real and obvious progress. I've also worked with people genuinely like "Rick" from the article. It usually takes about a week to find out that they don't actually write any code or contribute to the team in any meaningful way besides making noise. People who are that wrapped up in their own ego cannot make meaningful contributions to their teams. It lends more weight to the idea that there was a ton of mismanagement going on at this company that beyond the bullshit described in the article, the author still considers "Rick" to be a genius.

threatofrain 9y ago
I find that brilliant people come from all walks of life. It's not obvious why you would think mental aptitude would translate to healthy, gentle, or sociable personalities. Richard Feynman is known to have a temper, and Einstein was known to be extremely callous in intimate affairs. We've also seen MIT professors display a lesser regard for lesser minds in math. We've also seen brilliant top-of-their field sportsman display great arrogance and disregard to lessers. The guy who writes "The Haskell Book" isn't known to be nice, but people still acknowledge that it's one of the top texts. Linus Torvalds isn't known to be nice. You might not consider these people to be "geniuses", but they are certainly brilliant in some way, participating heavily in their field in some way.
- wdewind 9y ago
  I'm sorry but you're making a massive stretch by implying the either Einstein or Feynman were known as toxic assholes by basically anyone (except maybe Einstein's wives). And while one can of course say that someone is a genius at a sport, I meant specifically intellectually, and even more specifically I wanted to combat the notion that it is common for software engineers to be geniuses and total assholes. I just haven't seen that frequently, and in fact usually the pattern is that the engineers who are typical assholes are, correctly, the least secure in their own skills and try and mask that with needless complexity (in code, communication etc). I guess maybe my meta point is that I think intelligence generally fights toxicity, not the opposite. I'm sure you can find counter examples as humans are complex.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    There are plenty of geniuses throughout history who were asseholes but still brilliant. EQ and IQ are not highly correlated at all.
    - wdewind 9y ago
      > There are plenty of geniuses throughout history who were asseholes but still brilliant. Agreed, as I said humans are complex and I'm sure you can find exceptions. Just talking about general trends here. > EQ and IQ are not highly correlated at all. Assuming by EQ you mean being a nice person and intelligence are not correlated I don't agree. Tons of studies backing this up (as well as correlation with overall happiness). Here are two: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12061571 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12061571 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12309/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12309/full
      - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
        EQ means emotional intelligence, the ability to empathize with people effectively, allowing people to take hints via social cues when they are being annoying or otherwise engaging in asshole-like behavior. As geniuses are already extreme outliers. For one thing, they do not typically fit in very well with their peers, often leading to seemingly anti-social behavior. None of the articles you link directly correlate EQ to intelligence, they corrleate it to civic minded ness, and getting good grades in school. Social people do well in social environments is not surprising.

threatofrain 9y ago

I find that brilliant people come from all walks of life. It's not obvious why you would think mental aptitude would translate to healthy, gentle, or sociable personalities. Richard Feynman is known to have a temper, and Einstein was known to be extremely callous in intimate affairs. We've also seen MIT professors display a lesser regard for lesser minds in math. We've also seen brilliant top-of-their field sportsman display great arrogance and disregard to lessers. The guy who writes "The Haskell Book" isn't known to be nice, but people still acknowledge that it's one of the top texts. Linus Torvalds isn't known to be nice. You might not consider these people to be "geniuses", but they are certainly brilliant in some way, participating heavily in their field in some way.

wdewind 9y ago
I'm sorry but you're making a massive stretch by implying the either Einstein or Feynman were known as toxic assholes by basically anyone (except maybe Einstein's wives). And while one can of course say that someone is a genius at a sport, I meant specifically intellectually, and even more specifically I wanted to combat the notion that it is common for software engineers to be geniuses and total assholes. I just haven't seen that frequently, and in fact usually the pattern is that the engineers who are typical assholes are, correctly, the least secure in their own skills and try and mask that with needless complexity (in code, communication etc). I guess maybe my meta point is that I think intelligence generally fights toxicity, not the opposite. I'm sure you can find counter examples as humans are complex.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  There are plenty of geniuses throughout history who were asseholes but still brilliant. EQ and IQ are not highly correlated at all.
  - wdewind 9y ago
    > There are plenty of geniuses throughout history who were asseholes but still brilliant. Agreed, as I said humans are complex and I'm sure you can find exceptions. Just talking about general trends here. > EQ and IQ are not highly correlated at all. Assuming by EQ you mean being a nice person and intelligence are not correlated I don't agree. Tons of studies backing this up (as well as correlation with overall happiness). Here are two: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12061571 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12061571 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12309/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12309/full
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      EQ means emotional intelligence, the ability to empathize with people effectively, allowing people to take hints via social cues when they are being annoying or otherwise engaging in asshole-like behavior. As geniuses are already extreme outliers. For one thing, they do not typically fit in very well with their peers, often leading to seemingly anti-social behavior. None of the articles you link directly correlate EQ to intelligence, they corrleate it to civic minded ness, and getting good grades in school. Social people do well in social environments is not surprising.