3 ms·

I work for a company where the CEO has specifically implemented a "no-asshole strategy" from the start. He too talked about the "asshole effect" that causes co

by d--b 7y ago

I work for a company where the CEO has specifically implemented a "no-asshole strategy" from the start. He too talked about the "asshole effect" that causes companies to fall apart. Hire one asshole, and everybody eventually turns into an asshole. Results: the company is only nice guys, and it feels so good. Sure we occasionally hire the asshole. But they're rooted out fairly quickly. How to keep assholes at bay: 1. Stay small: Bringing the right people in is more important that shipping that project faster. Fast growing companies all get the asshole disease and then have to cut their arms off. 2. Have a lot of people interview: I had 18 interviews for my job. The company had 25 people.

wozmirek 7y ago
Interesting bit about the 18 interviews. While your company sounds like something really cool, I'd probably not go through all those interviews unless a) they're brief and we move through them quickly (like, in <2 months tops), b) I know about the process in advance so I can prepare and c) I'm paid for my time, starting from after the screening interview. Regarding c) - 18 interviews, each taking at least 30 minutes (screening would be 15 on average but other would make up for it), that's roughly 9 full hours of my very own time, if not more.
- d--b 7y ago
  I had one quick phone screening, then 2-3 hours on Skype, then they flew me over for a full day of interviews. the whole thing was less than a month.
  - wozmirek 7y ago
    Ah, so by 18 interviews you also meant e.g. 8 interviews during a full day? For some reason I thought it was spaced out, like you had 18 calls :D
    - d--b 7y ago
      yes, I met almost everyone in the company over a single day. Some guys I talked to several times.
DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
sounds like your boss builds a company on the assumption that people can never change. From my experience if you have a strong team with good core values it's easy to absorb and change / condition the behavior of the odd outlier. In fact that outlier will realize that they need to adapt to the new environment (and when they do you have changed that person's outlook and maybe even their mental health and insecurities). The sooner we realize people's character isn't a binary good or bad and that we are all the victims of our own insecurities, the better we'll be off. Alternatively we can like your employer create policies which keeps us in our own bubble thinking that we're the good guys (this is when we're also runny risk of actually becoming what we set out to destroy).
- d--b 7y ago
  This is wishful thinking. Bullies may be victim of their own insecurities, but they're not that easy to change. Would you hire someone who you know is an open racist, just because he can be converted?
  - DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
    > Would you hire someone who you know is an open racist, ofc not, I think some people are just terrible and no amount of good will is going to integrate them anywhere. But my point is that a strong team can absorb some people that don't seem 100% fitting on the first impression. From my personal experience many people I got on fine with initially afterward turned out to be terrible team players and turned out to be wolf in sheep clothing (and no amount of screening could have prevented that). Others were questionable but given a chance ended up holding everything together when it mattered. IMO there is no silver bullet against weeding out toxic individuals and there is likewise no guarantee that with a binary approach by putting people into the good/bad camp some won't be thrown under the bus. Also the most creative teams I worked with were often totally crazy mix where it's natural egos rub against another. Reading the post all my alarm bells ring. The author would be labeled under my definition of toxic, yet I'd still give him an interview knowing that he'd be surrounded by people more mature than him and potentially 15-20 years older. He wouldn't stand a chance in a group where he was the most senior from a knowledge or age pov.

by d--b 7y ago

wozmirek 7y ago

Interesting bit about the 18 interviews. While your company sounds like something really cool, I'd probably not go through all those interviews unless a) they're brief and we move through them quickly (like, in <2 months tops), b) I know about the process in advance so I can prepare and c) I'm paid for my time, starting from after the screening interview. Regarding c) - 18 interviews, each taking at least 30 minutes (screening would be 15 on average but other would make up for it), that's roughly 9 full hours of my very own time, if not more.

d--b 7y ago
I had one quick phone screening, then 2-3 hours on Skype, then they flew me over for a full day of interviews. the whole thing was less than a month.
- wozmirek 7y ago
  Ah, so by 18 interviews you also meant e.g. 8 interviews during a full day? For some reason I thought it was spaced out, like you had 18 calls :D
  - d--b 7y ago
    yes, I met almost everyone in the company over a single day. Some guys I talked to several times.

DyslexicAtheist 7y ago

sounds like your boss builds a company on the assumption that people can never change. From my experience if you have a strong team with good core values it's easy to absorb and change / condition the behavior of the odd outlier. In fact that outlier will realize that they need to adapt to the new environment (and when they do you have changed that person's outlook and maybe even their mental health and insecurities). The sooner we realize people's character isn't a binary good or bad and that we are all the victims of our own insecurities, the better we'll be off. Alternatively we can like your employer create policies which keeps us in our own bubble thinking that we're the good guys (this is when we're also runny risk of actually becoming what we set out to destroy).

d--b 7y ago
This is wishful thinking. Bullies may be victim of their own insecurities, but they're not that easy to change. Would you hire someone who you know is an open racist, just because he can be converted?
- DyslexicAtheist 7y ago
  > Would you hire someone who you know is an open racist, ofc not, I think some people are just terrible and no amount of good will is going to integrate them anywhere. But my point is that a strong team can absorb some people that don't seem 100% fitting on the first impression. From my personal experience many people I got on fine with initially afterward turned out to be terrible team players and turned out to be wolf in sheep clothing (and no amount of screening could have prevented that). Others were questionable but given a chance ended up holding everything together when it mattered. IMO there is no silver bullet against weeding out toxic individuals and there is likewise no guarantee that with a binary approach by putting people into the good/bad camp some won't be thrown under the bus. Also the most creative teams I worked with were often totally crazy mix where it's natural egos rub against another. Reading the post all my alarm bells ring. The author would be labeled under my definition of toxic, yet I'd still give him an interview knowing that he'd be surrounded by people more mature than him and potentially 15-20 years older. He wouldn't stand a chance in a group where he was the most senior from a knowledge or age pov.