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This article makes an interesting point but IMO it highlights 2 phenomema, not 1. The first phenomenon is that some people seem to be more talented and useful

This article makes an interesting point but IMO it highlights 2 phenomema, not 1. The first phenomenon is that some people seem to be more talented and useful than they are while they are present within the organization. The second phenomenon is that when people leave an organization, their talents may be immediately discarded; they often end up being used as a scapegoats for any problem which remaining employees may notice after the person has left (possibly completely unrelated to the person). People tend to over-rate people who are present and over-demonize people who are absent. The demonization probably falls harder on people who were overrated (since it's backed by truth) but it can also fall on people who were genuinely talented and valuable - It depends on what kind of people remain in the company and what narrative serves the interest of those who remain.

djmips 4y ago
Perhaps a side note - but I know a case where someone whose code had a lot of bugs and design problems but when they were with the company they worked very hard and would address problems - often with band-aid solutions but at least they took care of their own messes so it didn't fall onto others. All of this hard work and long hours and diligence made them seem to management as if they were amazing. However after they have left, they are obviously no longer supporting their terrible code and the ones who had to take it over will certainly demonize the departed - it's a bit unfair but someone who isn't helping fix their own mess (even if they have a good reason - they moved on) is still a huge negative. You are right though, this is somewhat a biased perception and scapegoating is real.
- jongjong 4y ago
  Great observation. I think this is often the case with overrated developers. The fact that they churn out a lot of lines of code can make them seem highly productive.

djmips 4y ago

Perhaps a side note - but I know a case where someone whose code had a lot of bugs and design problems but when they were with the company they worked very hard and would address problems - often with band-aid solutions but at least they took care of their own messes so it didn't fall onto others. All of this hard work and long hours and diligence made them seem to management as if they were amazing. However after they have left, they are obviously no longer supporting their terrible code and the ones who had to take it over will certainly demonize the departed - it's a bit unfair but someone who isn't helping fix their own mess (even if they have a good reason - they moved on) is still a huge negative. You are right though, this is somewhat a biased perception and scapegoating is real.

jongjong 4y ago
Great observation. I think this is often the case with overrated developers. The fact that they churn out a lot of lines of code can make them seem highly productive.