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Did the author mean "fire quickly" in the sense that he should determine quickly whether a person is a good fit, or did he mean when you make the decision you s

Did the author mean "fire quickly" in the sense that he should determine quickly whether a person is a good fit, or did he mean when you make the decision you should do so with some expediency? It seemed like the former, but the conclusion didn't seem to follow the premise. Additionally, it seemed like his business was set up to avoid friction and is going to be fairly homogenous in terms of the composition of its people. I think a lot of employees would be petrified about pointing out poor direction for fear of being voted out. Sometimes you need a little bit of friction to make the better decisions.

coffeemug 13y ago
Author here. I meant get the person out of the job that doesn't fit them well quickly, which involves making the decision and following through. As for people being afraid of speaking out, that's never been a problem here. The rule is simple -- get all the arguments out in the open, but once the decision is made, everyone has to be on board. It's ok (and desirable) to have a lot of friction in the first part of the process, but is detrimental to have friction in the second part (after the decision has been made). EDIT: also, it's extremely helpful to periodically re-evaluate things, and and debate flaws in direction. The trick is to keep it constructive (as opposed to having one person not play ball and derail development). Getting this process running smoothly is very difficult and requires a lot of trust, but once it works, it works phenomenally well.
- throwawayga 13y ago
  Slight pivot to your point, but when actually firing, it should also be quick and compassionate. That is, I have seen managers who can't bring themselves to say "you are fired", instead waffling around the subject. It is much better to be direct and to the point, but compassionate. Don't leave the employee guessing.
- davidgerard 13y ago
  Note comment above: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6033418 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6033418

coffeemug 13y ago

Author here. I meant get the person out of the job that doesn't fit them well quickly, which involves making the decision and following through. As for people being afraid of speaking out, that's never been a problem here. The rule is simple -- get all the arguments out in the open, but once the decision is made, everyone has to be on board. It's ok (and desirable) to have a lot of friction in the first part of the process, but is detrimental to have friction in the second part (after the decision has been made). EDIT: also, it's extremely helpful to periodically re-evaluate things, and and debate flaws in direction. The trick is to keep it constructive (as opposed to having one person not play ball and derail development). Getting this process running smoothly is very difficult and requires a lot of trust, but once it works, it works phenomenally well.

throwawayga 13y ago
Slight pivot to your point, but when actually firing, it should also be quick and compassionate. That is, I have seen managers who can't bring themselves to say "you are fired", instead waffling around the subject. It is much better to be direct and to the point, but compassionate. Don't leave the employee guessing.
davidgerard 13y ago
Note comment above: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6033418 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6033418