The title seems to imply that there’s something wrong with sympathy being a factor. I don’t think there is. Working with people you enjoy being around is probab

The title seems to imply that there’s something wrong with sympathy being a factor. I don’t think there is. Working with people you enjoy being around is probably the single largest factor for my productivity, and ignoring it would be a catastrophe, long-term. There is, however, a certain obligation to try to get along, to help new hires to become part of the group, to overcome all the biases we all have etc. I’ve also not seen too great a tendency to streamline personalities for the sake of “getting along”. Indeed the most fun and productive groups were rather diverse sets of characters, including the stereotypical “asshole genius”. Somehow, they managed to keep insulting peoples’ work yet showing enough self-awareness to make their subjects not feel personally hurt.