4 ms·

Managing Developers: Understanding Work Styles and Individual Needs

20 points by encorekt 7y ago

rsstack 7y ago
Do not try this at home. This is so superficial and disrespectful of developers. This is like the alpha/beta personalities or the "eight personality types"...
- timw4mail 7y ago
  As a developer, I don't find this disrespectful. While people may not fit neatly into these kinds of categories, there are common personality continuums that developers (and all people for that matter) tend to fall into. Just like with "learning styles", there is likely a way each person works best.
- Supermancho 7y ago
  It's important to remember that no matter how detailed or grossly you judge someone, you're not going to capture it all. So what? Superficial or disrespectful or whatever, I don't see any reason to delve into why broad types are useful, when they are shown to be. As a gamer, the "types of gamers" has been the difference between virtual life and death, many times over. Be it PvP, raiding, or completion goals. Like you, I'm fairly confident that developers don't fit into these "categories" as cleanly because they aren't addressing the work environment (ie process). Conway's Law has been shown to be a reliable indicator of developer action. Once you get away from that (self-directed teams), some sort of personality matrix like this might become visible, but it's unlikely you'll ever see it.
acconrad 7y ago
Should you tailor your message differently to each person? Yes. Does that mean dividing them into "personality types"? No. By and large, there is no strong evidence to support personality types. Of the various kinds, OCEAN is the most reputable, and of that, the only metric that really seems to be thoroughly studied is the O (for Openness to new experiences). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Limited_scope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Li...
supercanuck 7y ago
Just buy the book. Five stars on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chemistry-Practical-Crafting-Relationships/dp/1119501563 https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chemistry-Practical-Crafting... Does anyone do any real work anymore?

20 points by encorekt 7y ago

Do not try this at home. This is so superficial and disrespectful of developers. This is like the alpha/beta personalities or the "eight personality types"...

timw4mail 7y ago
As a developer, I don't find this disrespectful. While people may not fit neatly into these kinds of categories, there are common personality continuums that developers (and all people for that matter) tend to fall into. Just like with "learning styles", there is likely a way each person works best.
Supermancho 7y ago
It's important to remember that no matter how detailed or grossly you judge someone, you're not going to capture it all. So what? Superficial or disrespectful or whatever, I don't see any reason to delve into why broad types are useful, when they are shown to be. As a gamer, the "types of gamers" has been the difference between virtual life and death, many times over. Be it PvP, raiding, or completion goals. Like you, I'm fairly confident that developers don't fit into these "categories" as cleanly because they aren't addressing the work environment (ie process). Conway's Law has been shown to be a reliable indicator of developer action. Once you get away from that (self-directed teams), some sort of personality matrix like this might become visible, but it's unlikely you'll ever see it.

acconrad 7y ago

Should you tailor your message differently to each person? Yes. Does that mean dividing them into "personality types"? No. By and large, there is no strong evidence to support personality types. Of the various kinds, OCEAN is the most reputable, and of that, the only metric that really seems to be thoroughly studied is the O (for Openness to new experiences). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Limited_scope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Li...

supercanuck 7y ago

Just buy the book. Five stars on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chemistry-Practical-Crafting-Relationships/dp/1119501563 https://www.amazon.com/Business-Chemistry-Practical-Crafting... Does anyone do any real work anymore?