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I'm not sure I agree totally with Paul Graham's antonym choice -- the opposite of hapless when dealing with things might be named "resourcefulness", but when de

I'm not sure I agree totally with Paul Graham's antonym choice -- the opposite of hapless when dealing with things might be named "resourcefulness", but when dealing with people "steadfast" might be closer to the feeling you want. Things need to be moved around, but when dealing with people often the most important action is to stand still -- to find a position and refuse to be knocked over or pushed around. This might be part of the reason it is so hard to find a proper antonym. It might also be why it is so hard to do. Anyway, my fiancee asked me "of all the people you've ever met, who would best fit the 'not hapless' description the best?" I answered without hesitation "Sergey Brin." Oh, he said, disappointed. "I mean someone who might be available to start a company with." This observation would tend to support Paul Graham's thesis about the qualities you want in a founder, though.

dhbradshaw 18y ago
"Things need to be moved around, but when dealing with people often the most important action is to stand still -- to find a position and refuse to be knocked over or pushed around. This might be part of the reason it is so hard to find a proper antonym. It might also be why it is so hard to do." This idea sounds really interesting. Would you be willing to expand on it? A couple of examples might help me understand what you mean.
- rfrankel 18y ago
  Examples of what? Why it is that standing up to people is one of the components of the "opposite of haplessness"? Or of the assertion that quality of leadership has two components is a large part of why it is so difficult to do and difficult to find? Looking at the Google guys gives you a couple of examples of the first assertion. They were ultra-careful when hunting for a CEO, and chose one who didn't try to dominate them. They played off their VC's against each other, making sure that the both of the two top venture capitol firms invested in them. That's the kind of thing I mean.

dhbradshaw 18y ago

"Things need to be moved around, but when dealing with people often the most important action is to stand still -- to find a position and refuse to be knocked over or pushed around. This might be part of the reason it is so hard to find a proper antonym. It might also be why it is so hard to do." This idea sounds really interesting. Would you be willing to expand on it? A couple of examples might help me understand what you mean.

rfrankel 18y ago
Examples of what? Why it is that standing up to people is one of the components of the "opposite of haplessness"? Or of the assertion that quality of leadership has two components is a large part of why it is so difficult to do and difficult to find? Looking at the Google guys gives you a couple of examples of the first assertion. They were ultra-careful when hunting for a CEO, and chose one who didn't try to dominate them. They played off their VC's against each other, making sure that the both of the two top venture capitol firms invested in them. That's the kind of thing I mean.