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> Even worse is hiring someone merely mediocre and not actively harmful. What's so bad about... mediocrity? For obvious statistical reasons, most companies, mo

> Even worse is hiring someone merely mediocre and not actively harmful. What's so bad about... mediocrity? For obvious statistical reasons, most companies, most jobs, and most people are mediocre (or worse).

wheels 5y ago
> For obvious statistical reasons most companies [...] are mediocre That's assuming companies exist on a one dimensional spectrum. The more prevailing wisdom is that companies will be mediocre or bad at many things, and good at a couple of particular things, and those couple of things are what make the company viable. This is the essence of a "unique selling point". But to the point: most companies don't need great developers. Nowdays most medium sized businesses employ some tech staff, but IT is not core to their business.
Pelic4n 5y ago
Because a person's worth is directly tied to how much value they can produce for their company's shareholders. And if someone mediocre ends up being able to do the job, the company's management may face the fact that they're just a bunch of lame yuppies spending their life in the office to make someone else richer, not changing the world/making the world a better place/any other bullshit eaten from the trashcan of ideology (sniffff).
- dukeyukey 5y ago
  > Because a person's worth is directly tied to how much value they can produce for their company's shareholders. Well, perceived value rather than actual value. Which might be pretty much equivalent in a field like Sales where it's easy to track figures, but much harder in fields like software. And in the end, most people are near the centre of the bell-curve of talent, and still manage to produce plenty of value for themselves and their employer. Not everybody has to be extraordinary to keep the society ticking, and the perception that we should always be excellent isn't just counter-productive, but actively harmful (see what magazines did to people's body image).
- NoGravitas 5y ago
  Every day I am eating from this trash can.
slumdev 5y ago
> What's so bad about... mediocrity? Nothing, if company managers would admit it. Instinctively, they know it. The old cult of management-as-a-profession believes that by skillfully directing the activities of replaceable cogs, a company's managers can achieve outsized results. But they can't admit it because they're afraid that knowledge would demotivate the replaceable cogs.
nitwit005 5y ago
> What's so bad about... mediocrity? Nothing, but engineers are expensive, so if you can spend a couple thousand dollars to get better value for the money, you might as well. Of course, some companies spend far more than that, which is probably not economical.

wheels 5y ago

> For obvious statistical reasons most companies [...] are mediocre That's assuming companies exist on a one dimensional spectrum. The more prevailing wisdom is that companies will be mediocre or bad at many things, and good at a couple of particular things, and those couple of things are what make the company viable. This is the essence of a "unique selling point". But to the point: most companies don't need great developers. Nowdays most medium sized businesses employ some tech staff, but IT is not core to their business.

Pelic4n 5y ago

Because a person's worth is directly tied to how much value they can produce for their company's shareholders. And if someone mediocre ends up being able to do the job, the company's management may face the fact that they're just a bunch of lame yuppies spending their life in the office to make someone else richer, not changing the world/making the world a better place/any other bullshit eaten from the trashcan of ideology (sniffff).

dukeyukey 5y ago
> Because a person's worth is directly tied to how much value they can produce for their company's shareholders. Well, perceived value rather than actual value. Which might be pretty much equivalent in a field like Sales where it's easy to track figures, but much harder in fields like software. And in the end, most people are near the centre of the bell-curve of talent, and still manage to produce plenty of value for themselves and their employer. Not everybody has to be extraordinary to keep the society ticking, and the perception that we should always be excellent isn't just counter-productive, but actively harmful (see what magazines did to people's body image).
NoGravitas 5y ago
Every day I am eating from this trash can.

slumdev 5y ago

> What's so bad about... mediocrity? Nothing, if company managers would admit it. Instinctively, they know it. The old cult of management-as-a-profession believes that by skillfully directing the activities of replaceable cogs, a company's managers can achieve outsized results. But they can't admit it because they're afraid that knowledge would demotivate the replaceable cogs.

nitwit005 5y ago

> What's so bad about... mediocrity? Nothing, but engineers are expensive, so if you can spend a couple thousand dollars to get better value for the money, you might as well. Of course, some companies spend far more than that, which is probably not economical.