4 ms·
Don’t you think the problem there is that you hired the wrong people?
by Aeolun 1y ago
Don’t you think the problem there is that you hired the wrong people?
- jayd16 1y agoMaybe so but it's not like that's something you can really control. You can control the policy so that is what's done.
- spyckie2 1y agoBasic statistics. You can find 10 people that will probably not abuse the system but definitely not 100. It’s like your friend group and time choosing a place to eat. It’s not your friends, it’s the law of averages.
- michaelt 1y agoWell partly, yes. But also, when I tell one of my reports to spec and order himself a PC, there should be several controls in place. Firstly, I should give clear enough instructions that they know whether they should be spending around $600, $1500, or $6000. Second, although my reports can freely spend ~$100 no questions asked, expenses in the $1000+ region should require my approval. Thirdly, there is monitoring of where money is going; spending where the paperwork isn't in order gets flagged and checked. If someone with access to the company amazon account gets an above-ground pool shipped to their home, you can bet there will be questions to be answered.
- SteveJS 1y agoWas trying to remember a counter example on good hires and wasted money. Alex St. John Microsoft Windows 95 era, created directX annnnd also built an alien spaceship. I dimly recalled it as a friend in the games division telling me about some someone getting 5 and a 1 review scores in close succession. Facts i could find (yes i asked an llm) 5.0 review: Moderately supported. St. John himself hosted a copy of his Jan 10, 1996 Microsoft performance review on his blog (the file listing still exists in archives). It reportedly shows a 5.0 rating, which in that era was the rare top-box mark. Fired a year later: Factual. In an open letter (published via GameSpot) he states he was escorted out of Microsoft on June 24, 1997, about 18 months after the 5.0 review. Judgment Day II alien spaceship party: Well documented as a plan. St. John’s own account (quoted in Neowin, Gizmodo, and others) describes an H.R. Giger–designed alien-ship interior in an Alameda air hangar, complete with X-Files cast involvement and a Gates “head reveal” gag. Sunk cost before cancellation: Supported. St. John says the shutdown came “a couple of weeks” before the 1996 event date, after ~$4.3M had already been spent/committed (≈$1.2M MS budget + ≈$1.1M sponsors + additional sunk costs). Independent summaries repeat this figure (“in excess of $4 million”). So: 5.0 review — moderate evidence Fired 1997 — factual Alien spaceship build planned — factual ≈$4M sunk costs — supported by St. John’s own retrospective and secondary reporting
- Aeolun 1y agoI’m not quite sure I see how building directx and building an alien spaceship are incompatible. Nor how either translates to being a bad hire.
- mort96 1y agoAs a company grows, it will undoubtedly hire some "wrong people" along the way.