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> We have no tolerance for dishonest, manipulative, belittling, or egocentric individuals This seems code for "I don't want an egocentric person here with more

> We have no tolerance for dishonest, manipulative, belittling, or egocentric individuals This seems code for "I don't want an egocentric person here with more confidence than me." Honestly, it depends on the role. I want my guy who handles negotiations to be a tough character. I want my lawyer to be fearless. I want my security guards to be unafraid to assert themselves if they see something. This is what both this guy and Paul Graham get wrong: there simply is no "one good personality" for businesses. We need a mix of personalities to get things done effectively, or at all. Yeah my coders and sysadmins should probably be INTJ's, but I don't want an INTJ sales guy. I also think there's folly in being ultra-sensitive and ultra-politically correct with hiring. So what if someone has more confidence than you? Is it such a threat to your company and well-being? I think this idea of a young company being a nerf-game nerdfest of humble geeks all "being nice" is asinine. These companies get eaten up by tough guys who just can out-compete them. Niceness comes with a lot of limits and in the long run, can't compete. Look at how quickly Google has given up its 'no evil' mantra, for example, or how Bill Gates had to transform from 1980s geek hero to 1990s hated Bill Gates. It was a limiting philosophy, especially when you have shareholders.

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vosper 12y ago
> This seems code for "I don't want an egocentric person here with more confidence than me." I think this is entirely your projection on the article; I didn't read it that way at all. I've worked with confident, effective people (including sales people) who possess none of the negative attributes the article talks about, and are all-around nice people to be with.
- jarcane 12y ago
  One of the nicest men I've ever met was my father's estate lawyer. He could certainly be hard and firm when he needed to be, but perhaps because he was so nice when he didn't, he really didn't have to leverage much more than a flat tone when that hardness was needed.
ohitsdom 12y ago
I get your "different personalities for different roles" point, and it's a good one. But you lost me on the "niceness can't compete" argument. Why not? And to me, tough isn't the opposite of nice. Being nice doesn't mean being a pushover. It means being courteous and professional. I'm not sure what you're implying when you say niceness has limits. Are you saying being ethical is not competitive? Because I would strongly disagree with that.
jonahx 12y ago
> So what if someone has more confidence than you? Is it such a threat to your company and well-being? I think it's interesting that you tacitly equated "asshole" with "confidence." I don't think you're alone in this, and certainly not if you treat it as merely a fast heuristic. I don't think it's right though. And I think it's a relatively new cultural phenomenon, perceptibly growing over the last thirty years. "Confidence," (in the self-confidence sense) is etymologically just about trust or faith in oneself or one's abilities. It has nothing to do with aggression or selfishness. That correlation is something, I think, that people notice and selectively remember. It makes sense from a Darwinian perspective that we selectively remember "assholes." And the Sammy Glick / Gordon Gecko / etc narrative is so much a cultural staple at this point that it's self reinforcing.
xiaoma 12y ago
I don't see dishonest / various other anti-social behaviors as code for "confident". Even being egocentric is something other than confidence. In fact it's often a lack of one that leads to the other. It's entire possible to be confident without being an asshole.

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vosper 12y ago

> This seems code for "I don't want an egocentric person here with more confidence than me." I think this is entirely your projection on the article; I didn't read it that way at all. I've worked with confident, effective people (including sales people) who possess none of the negative attributes the article talks about, and are all-around nice people to be with.

jarcane 12y ago
One of the nicest men I've ever met was my father's estate lawyer. He could certainly be hard and firm when he needed to be, but perhaps because he was so nice when he didn't, he really didn't have to leverage much more than a flat tone when that hardness was needed.

ohitsdom 12y ago

I get your "different personalities for different roles" point, and it's a good one. But you lost me on the "niceness can't compete" argument. Why not? And to me, tough isn't the opposite of nice. Being nice doesn't mean being a pushover. It means being courteous and professional. I'm not sure what you're implying when you say niceness has limits. Are you saying being ethical is not competitive? Because I would strongly disagree with that.

jonahx 12y ago

> So what if someone has more confidence than you? Is it such a threat to your company and well-being? I think it's interesting that you tacitly equated "asshole" with "confidence." I don't think you're alone in this, and certainly not if you treat it as merely a fast heuristic. I don't think it's right though. And I think it's a relatively new cultural phenomenon, perceptibly growing over the last thirty years. "Confidence," (in the self-confidence sense) is etymologically just about trust or faith in oneself or one's abilities. It has nothing to do with aggression or selfishness. That correlation is something, I think, that people notice and selectively remember. It makes sense from a Darwinian perspective that we selectively remember "assholes." And the Sammy Glick / Gordon Gecko / etc narrative is so much a cultural staple at this point that it's self reinforcing.

xiaoma 12y ago

I don't see dishonest / various other anti-social behaviors as code for "confident". Even being egocentric is something other than confidence. In fact it's often a lack of one that leads to the other. It's entire possible to be confident without being an asshole.