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I've had one boss who was terrible at basically everything, and he actually justified his behavior using Steve Jobs as an example. His company was only successf

I've had one boss who was terrible at basically everything, and he actually justified his behavior using Steve Jobs as an example. His company was only successful because he was in the right place at the right time, but the company was failing to maximize its full potential because of him. Would anyone try to claim there is a shortage of asshole managers, owners, or bosses out there? It's just a fact that many jerks exist, and a portion will inevitably end up at the top despite this behavior. Would YC have been more successful if it better emphasized seeking out this behavior in founders? If this behavior is critical to success then shouldn't we be training people to be jerks?

stronglikedan 6y ago
> shouldn't we be training people to be jerks? We do. It's called an MBA Program. There's even an "accelerated" option for maximum jerktitude.
shadowgovt 6y ago
The most impressive managerial implosion I've ever heard of was one of those bosses. He'd been hired on to be a whip-cracker; he did get results, but was remarkably unliked by staff. Company got purchased and it became clear some team members were not going to be hired by the new owning company. Team was trying to knock out a few last big-ticket TODOs before the handoff of projects. So the boss is going around the room in the scrum, and the DB lead announces he missed his target on some work remaining to be done. Conversation went something like this: Boss: "How are the DB changes?" DB guy: "Not done yet. I should be able to knock them out this week." Boss: "You had them on the calendar as ready by Monday." DB guy: "I know." Boss: "Didn't knock them out this weekend?" DB guy: "Nope." Boss: "What happened?" DB guy: crosses arms behind the back of his head and leans back in his chair "I spent the time polishing my résumé and setting up interviews for new opportunities this week." The whip-cracking approach to project management utterly collapses if the whip no longer stings.
deleted 6y ago
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stronglikedan 6y ago

> shouldn't we be training people to be jerks? We do. It's called an MBA Program. There's even an "accelerated" option for maximum jerktitude.

shadowgovt 6y ago

The most impressive managerial implosion I've ever heard of was one of those bosses. He'd been hired on to be a whip-cracker; he did get results, but was remarkably unliked by staff. Company got purchased and it became clear some team members were not going to be hired by the new owning company. Team was trying to knock out a few last big-ticket TODOs before the handoff of projects. So the boss is going around the room in the scrum, and the DB lead announces he missed his target on some work remaining to be done. Conversation went something like this: Boss: "How are the DB changes?" DB guy: "Not done yet. I should be able to knock them out this week." Boss: "You had them on the calendar as ready by Monday." DB guy: "I know." Boss: "Didn't knock them out this weekend?" DB guy: "Nope." Boss: "What happened?" DB guy: crosses arms behind the back of his head and leans back in his chair "I spent the time polishing my résumé and setting up interviews for new opportunities this week." The whip-cracking approach to project management utterly collapses if the whip no longer stings.

deleted 6y ago

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