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All it reminds me of Steve Jobs saying A players only want to work with A players. B players hire C players, C hire D and before you know it, you have the poli

All it reminds me of Steve Jobs saying A players only want to work with A players. B players hire C players, C hire D and before you know it, you have the politics described in this article.

BeetleB 8y ago
It's convenient to try to squeeze his story into Steve Job's mold, but in my experience, it's the A players who tend to be the most guilty when it comes to these kinds of politics. In my company, I've worked in two departments - one full of highly intelligent folks, and the other full of mediocre ones. In the former, these kinds of politics prevailed. I recall a particular instance where one person was working on a library, and he would actively invade other teams to shut down projects that remotely resembled his - even if his library did not supply all the features the others were building, and even though he had not yet released his library. In the latter team, people knew they were mediocre, and were much more open to learn because of it. Pointing out problems with their code never triggered their ego.
- darioush 8y ago
  Those who I consider A players don't foster insecurities about their coding abilities in their egos.
  - BeetleB 8y ago
    Your thesis is pretty circular. You're not making a statement about A players. You are merely defining them to be that way.
    - ScottBurson 8y ago
      It's fair to define them that way if such people actually exist -- which they do. I've worked with some very smart people who don't have these ego problems. Some do, of course, but I wouldn't call them A people.
    - wtracy 8y ago
      People whose behavior revolves around their insecurities in that way have ceased to learn and grow. If those people who are "B" players now continue being open to learning new ideas, they are eventually going to leapfrog those "A" players in skill.
    - mdpopescu 8y ago
      When I think about those I consider A players in the C# world - Anders Hejlsberg or Jon Skeet - I absolutely do not see them capable of that behavior.
- Viliam1234 8y ago
  I have similar experience. People known within the company as "geniuses" are most likely to get offended when you suggest an improvement to their code. The average coders will be like "yeah, whatever". Of course, there is a difference between being a genius, and being perceived as a genius by the managers. But sometimes there are people who are insanely good at some things (and everyone knows that) while having blind spots in other things (and get extremely sensitive about them).

All it reminds me of Steve Jobs saying A players only want to work with A players. B players hire C players, C hire D and before you know it, you have the politics described in this article.

BeetleB 8y ago

It's convenient to try to squeeze his story into Steve Job's mold, but in my experience, it's the A players who tend to be the most guilty when it comes to these kinds of politics. In my company, I've worked in two departments - one full of highly intelligent folks, and the other full of mediocre ones. In the former, these kinds of politics prevailed. I recall a particular instance where one person was working on a library, and he would actively invade other teams to shut down projects that remotely resembled his - even if his library did not supply all the features the others were building, and even though he had not yet released his library. In the latter team, people knew they were mediocre, and were much more open to learn because of it. Pointing out problems with their code never triggered their ego.

darioush 8y ago
Those who I consider A players don't foster insecurities about their coding abilities in their egos.
- BeetleB 8y ago
  Your thesis is pretty circular. You're not making a statement about A players. You are merely defining them to be that way.
  - ScottBurson 8y ago
    It's fair to define them that way if such people actually exist -- which they do. I've worked with some very smart people who don't have these ego problems. Some do, of course, but I wouldn't call them A people.
  - wtracy 8y ago
    People whose behavior revolves around their insecurities in that way have ceased to learn and grow. If those people who are "B" players now continue being open to learning new ideas, they are eventually going to leapfrog those "A" players in skill.
  - mdpopescu 8y ago
    When I think about those I consider A players in the C# world - Anders Hejlsberg or Jon Skeet - I absolutely do not see them capable of that behavior.
Viliam1234 8y ago
I have similar experience. People known within the company as "geniuses" are most likely to get offended when you suggest an improvement to their code. The average coders will be like "yeah, whatever". Of course, there is a difference between being a genius, and being perceived as a genius by the managers. But sometimes there are people who are insanely good at some things (and everyone knows that) while having blind spots in other things (and get extremely sensitive about them).