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Sorry, I wasn't defending Linus at all, and I would not behave as he did. I was just saying that him changing his behavior doesn't prove anything about successf

Sorry, I wasn't defending Linus at all, and I would not behave as he did. I was just saying that him changing his behavior doesn't prove anything about successful management techniques. Of course I'm not pro assholes :)

alkonaut 8y ago
I was merely trying to make the point that if one measures the success of a manager by only what is produced and not by how people are managed then one made the same mistake Linus did.
- sz4kerto 8y ago
  This is quite complicated. Primarily, the measurable bit of a manager's performance is what's produced. If you start measuring people's emotions then that's going to be very hard to quantify. Let's say that your company is trying to revolutionarize transportation by breaking the monopoly of ICE engines and replacing them with electric motors. What's the compromise you can allow yourself if there's a conflict between your employees' life and emotions and your company's success? If hundreds of people get totally burned out working for you but you help millions of children growing up with less pollution, then is that acceptable? It isn't always true that you can have your cake and eat it as well. I don't know the right solution, but it's definitely not a simple that "produce great output and also make your employees happy" -- there are countless situations where these conflict. Sadly. Regarding the case in point -- I think Linus' contribution to the world is so overwhelmingly positive that these rants and hurt feelings don't even compare. It'd be better if he didn't do them but this is his character, and nobody knows how this roughness correlates with his perseverance and care about code. (I'm really not saying it does, but it could.)
  - alkonaut 8y ago
    > If hundreds of people get totally burned out working for you but you help millions of children growing up with less pollution, then is that acceptable? It may be an acceptable tradeoff, but I wouldn’t say it makes someone a ”good manager”.

alkonaut 8y ago

I was merely trying to make the point that if one measures the success of a manager by only what is produced and not by how people are managed then one made the same mistake Linus did.

sz4kerto 8y ago
This is quite complicated. Primarily, the measurable bit of a manager's performance is what's produced. If you start measuring people's emotions then that's going to be very hard to quantify. Let's say that your company is trying to revolutionarize transportation by breaking the monopoly of ICE engines and replacing them with electric motors. What's the compromise you can allow yourself if there's a conflict between your employees' life and emotions and your company's success? If hundreds of people get totally burned out working for you but you help millions of children growing up with less pollution, then is that acceptable? It isn't always true that you can have your cake and eat it as well. I don't know the right solution, but it's definitely not a simple that "produce great output and also make your employees happy" -- there are countless situations where these conflict. Sadly. Regarding the case in point -- I think Linus' contribution to the world is so overwhelmingly positive that these rants and hurt feelings don't even compare. It'd be better if he didn't do them but this is his character, and nobody knows how this roughness correlates with his perseverance and care about code. (I'm really not saying it does, but it could.)
- alkonaut 8y ago
  > If hundreds of people get totally burned out working for you but you help millions of children growing up with less pollution, then is that acceptable? It may be an acceptable tradeoff, but I wouldn’t say it makes someone a ”good manager”.