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Have you ever read Moneyball by Michael Lewis? It's about how a baseball team in the early 2000's took a look at market inefficiencies and used it to put togeth

by moate 8y ago

Have you ever read Moneyball by Michael Lewis? It's about how a baseball team in the early 2000's took a look at market inefficiencies and used it to put together a great team for real cheap. It's like, how is it possible that a multi-billion dollar league was so unable to figure out their hiring process/talent assessment? They have reams of performance data and just needed to apply analysts to it. Whenever people start talking about the best ways to hire, I generally just start thinking about Moneyball and game theory and how most people are just making shit up with no clue why they're succeeding or failing. Every success story is equal parts "I worked real hard" and "There are far too many variables/luck for me to ever possibly be able to account for them objectively" but everyone like to put a narrative on it and be a hero (or cast someone as a villain).

asdfman123 8y ago
Ego gets in the way of data. The hiring process is set up primarily to make the hiring party feel smart and powerful, so it's hard to break out of that and realize you don't really know much. But it's incredible that it's so prevalent in tech, where people are supposedly so smart and data driven.
- paulriddle 8y ago
  Not only ego. Other people too. Have you tried acting without ego? It might piss some people off, because it will expose them. Right in their smug faces. They will see how free you are and then look at themselves and become MAD. Assuming you can act confident without ego. Most of the time you don't even have the social skills to put forth an opinion in a charismatic way. Weak voice, weak body language, stuttering, stumbling over your words, unsteady eye contact, failure to make people laugh and feel at ease. Bam, you lost. Made fool of youself. If you have no ego, you learn and carry on. It is difficult to do.
  - asdfman123 8y ago
    Acting with true humility rarely pisses anyone off. Ego and insecurity are two separate things. You can mask insecurity with a big ego (and people often do that), but you can also be calm, confident and assertive sans ego if you're comfortable with yourself.

by moate 8y ago

asdfman123 8y ago

Ego gets in the way of data. The hiring process is set up primarily to make the hiring party feel smart and powerful, so it's hard to break out of that and realize you don't really know much. But it's incredible that it's so prevalent in tech, where people are supposedly so smart and data driven.

paulriddle 8y ago
Not only ego. Other people too. Have you tried acting without ego? It might piss some people off, because it will expose them. Right in their smug faces. They will see how free you are and then look at themselves and become MAD. Assuming you can act confident without ego. Most of the time you don't even have the social skills to put forth an opinion in a charismatic way. Weak voice, weak body language, stuttering, stumbling over your words, unsteady eye contact, failure to make people laugh and feel at ease. Bam, you lost. Made fool of youself. If you have no ego, you learn and carry on. It is difficult to do.
- asdfman123 8y ago
  Acting with true humility rarely pisses anyone off. Ego and insecurity are two separate things. You can mask insecurity with a big ego (and people often do that), but you can also be calm, confident and assertive sans ego if you're comfortable with yourself.