5 ms·

if we temporarily define asshole to mean things like: - narcissistic - more interested in asserting dominance over other employees than advancing the good of

if we temporarily define asshole to mean things like: - narcissistic - more interested in asserting dominance over other employees than advancing the good of the project - likely to divert the project to advance some personal goals - constantly generates interpersonal conflict then yes, you aren't getting as much as you should out of your engineering organization.

RHSeeger 8y ago
But it's not uncommon to label someone an asshole for being comfortable saying "That's a bad idea and it won't work; here's why..." rather than beating around the bush. On the other hand, someone who is willing to "divert the project to advance some personal goals" all too often, will be very likable and sociable and not considered an asshole. There was a phrase at a company I used to work at "he doesn't need the project to succeed, he just needs it to not fail", and there were a lot of people who would drag a project on long enough to move up; really pleasant, friendly people... who didn't care who got hurt once they moved on to the next project.
- watwut 8y ago
  > But it's not uncommon to label someone an asshole for being comfortable saying "That's a bad idea and it won't work; here's why..." rather than beating around the bush. In my experience, that is rather uncommon. You may be ignored after saying that or not believed, but you get rarely labeled asshole for that alone. Frankly, in my experience, this is stereotype that people who are have hard time expressing themselves constructively and have trouble controlling anger after not getting their way like to throw around so that they sound better. > On the other hand, someone who is willing to "divert the project to advance some personal goals" all too often, will be very likable and sociable and not considered an asshole. There was a phrase at a company I used to work at "he doesn't need the project to succeed, he just needs it to not fail", and there were a lot of people who would drag a project on long enough to move up; really pleasant, friendly people... who didn't care who got hurt once they moved on to the next project. Bad management, run away as fast as you can.

RHSeeger 8y ago

But it's not uncommon to label someone an asshole for being comfortable saying "That's a bad idea and it won't work; here's why..." rather than beating around the bush. On the other hand, someone who is willing to "divert the project to advance some personal goals" all too often, will be very likable and sociable and not considered an asshole. There was a phrase at a company I used to work at "he doesn't need the project to succeed, he just needs it to not fail", and there were a lot of people who would drag a project on long enough to move up; really pleasant, friendly people... who didn't care who got hurt once they moved on to the next project.

watwut 8y ago
> But it's not uncommon to label someone an asshole for being comfortable saying "That's a bad idea and it won't work; here's why..." rather than beating around the bush. In my experience, that is rather uncommon. You may be ignored after saying that or not believed, but you get rarely labeled asshole for that alone. Frankly, in my experience, this is stereotype that people who are have hard time expressing themselves constructively and have trouble controlling anger after not getting their way like to throw around so that they sound better. > On the other hand, someone who is willing to "divert the project to advance some personal goals" all too often, will be very likable and sociable and not considered an asshole. There was a phrase at a company I used to work at "he doesn't need the project to succeed, he just needs it to not fail", and there were a lot of people who would drag a project on long enough to move up; really pleasant, friendly people... who didn't care who got hurt once they moved on to the next project. Bad management, run away as fast as you can.