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Well, we can conclude that being an asshole is irrelevant or not enough for running a successful project.

• TallGuyShort 12y ago
  I remember at the peak of the Steve Jobs dynasty, I noticed several classmates who would try and act just like him while speaking in front of people (black sweaters and all), and they started being complete jerks to people who didn't have the same perceived creativity or vision that they had. They thought if they acted in the ways Jobs was famour for, maybe they'd inherit his brilliance...
  • adwn 12y ago
    Sounds like a cargo cult (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult).
    • kstrauser 12y ago
      Exactly this. I had a boss who read "Steve Jobs" and took away from it that treating employees like lazy, passive aggressive assholes was a good recipe for motivating them to make great things. Within a space of a particular month, the entire engineering team quit. The real lesson should've been that Jobs was brilliant to the point that people bought into his vision enough to put up with his bullshit. He succeeded in spite of his attitude, not because of it.
• calibraxis 12y ago
  In my job, I could successfully be an asshole. But my assholishness wouldn't be irrelevant. If it's a weakness, then I had other advantages to make up for it. If it's a strength, then I applied certain things to make it work. It also depends on the culture. Some cultures make assholishness less viable. For instance, conferences with a decent code of conduct make physical harassment less viable.