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I am curious as to why this comment is garnering so many upvotes. Let me be clear; I do not think those traits are net positives overall. The fact that when we
by olefoo 18y ago
I am curious as to why this comment is garnering so many upvotes.
Let me be clear; I do not think those traits are net positives overall. The fact that when we are young we are a bit too willing to defer to authority is an artefact of buggy monkeyware. Any Manager/CTO who hires youngsters because they are easy to browbeat and relatively cheap is on crack; it feels real good at first, but it destroys you sooner rather than later.
Most teams benefit from a diversity in age as well as in outlook. You need people who are experienced enough to be able to see through the bullshit, but you also need people who will stay up late hacking on a skunk works project because they are excited about the work.
- tptacek 18y agoI don't understand your point here. Holding the quality and priority of the work constant, the employee who is cheaper and easier to "browbeat" is in fact lower drag. The market is very rationally going to select for the lowest drag fit for any role.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- jimbokun 18y ago"Holding the quality and priority of the work constant" That is a large qualification. It is possible that quality of work and willingness to be browbeaten are inversely correlated.
- tptacek 18y agoThat isn't my experience at all. I've found no correlation at all.
- olefoo 18y agoIt is my observation that toxic work environments are especially unproductive in software companies. Someone who hires a team with the idea of getting the cheapest and and most pliant workers is setting himself up to be forever surrounded by incompetence; real or perceived. A sailboat with no friction (keel) can only run before the wind; it is wholly unable to sail against the wind.