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Given my earlier post discouraging the hire of arrogant "rock star" programmers (http://coderific.com/blog/post/564), you can probably guess what my take on this topic is. So I could give you a well-reasoned, fact-checked argument for why Ian is wrong and obnoxious jerks are indeed the bane of civilization. But that would be boring, especially at one in the morning. So instead, I'll treat you to an alternate rendition of the events leading up to fire's invention, starring Lothar the obnoxious jerk, and Morg the average cave-dwelling Joe.Lothar: How's that fix for the whole "cold" issue coming along? I promised people that it would be done today.
Morg: Well I'm researching a number of techniques, one of which involves...
Lothar: You're not using that rock there are you?
Morg: Well yeah, I thought that maybe if I...
Lothar: You can't keep people warm with a rock. I just read this cave painting that said all the big caves are switching to mud for their warming needs. Why don't you try that?
Morg: But, you see, I think with a rock I could...
Lothar: Start working on a real solution. The chieftan is expecting results.
Morg: Okay, but I think I could use some help if you don't mind.
Lothar: Sorry, no time. The chieftan and I are going out for woolly mammoth.
Morg: I'll just get started on the mud then.
Lothar: You do that.Now I'm not arguing against trying new things or attempting tasks for which you're not traditionally qualified. And I'm in no way promoting passive coders who can't stand up to management. But I will claim that often, in many organizations, the very people who are too big for their britches are the ones who are actually detrimental to productivity. People who rise into positions of authority are only occasionally rewarded these positions based on merit. It's usually the appearance of confidence and the firm handshake that gets you the promotion, not any sort of actual ability. But I promised I wouldn't try to make any sort of coherent argument. So, back to Lothar.Lothar: Okay, are you about done?
Morg: Well, the mud idea doesn't seem to be working out all that well.
Lothar: Are you kidding me? It's past dark! We need a warming solution now.
Morg: I could go back to the rock approach. If you gave me a few more rocks to work with, maybe some flint...
Lothar: That will never work. Hmm.. Have you tried trees yet?
Morg: Trees?
Lothar: Yeah, try working something out with that tree over there.
Morg: Uh, I suppose I could try...
Lothar: Well, look at the time. I'm going to catch some shuteye.
Morg: I'll just be right out here... With this tree...
blog - we're better off without obnoxious jerks
posted by witten on June 15, 2007
I just read Ian Olsen's post entitled "Civilization Was Built By Obnoxious Jerks" (http://ianolsen.wordpress.com/2007/06/14/civilization-was-built-by-obnoxious-jerks/). The basic gist is that the people who actually get important things done are those with an inflated sense of self worth, and so having those people around is a good thing. Here's his justification:
Have you noticed the people heavy on bravado and light on skill often wend their way into positions of authority? Is this simply the typical workings of a clueless bureaucracy or something else? Both. Here's the thing: if people did only what they were qualified to do, things for which they had already proven some aptitude, we'd still be living in caves. The caveman that built the first fire was certainly not qualified. What a pompous jerk this guy was. The other cave-people were doing just fine huddling together for warmth and eating raw meat, thanks. And it was so obvious that he had no idea what he was doing. Rubbing sticks and banging rocks for hours? Nice going there, Lothar. Do us all a favor and spear a woolly mammoth or something, would ya? But you have to admit that the whole fire thing worked out pretty well.
Given my earlier post discouraging the hire of arrogant "rock star" programmers (http://coderific.com/blog/post/564), you can probably guess what my take on this topic is. So I could give you a well-reasoned, fact-checked argument for why Ian is wrong and obnoxious jerks are indeed the bane of civilization. But that would be boring, especially at one in the morning. So instead, I'll treat you to an alternate rendition of the events leading up to fire's invention, starring Lothar the obnoxious jerk, and Morg the average cave-dwelling Joe.Lothar: How's that fix for the whole "cold" issue coming along? I promised people that it would be done today.
Morg: Well I'm researching a number of techniques, one of which involves...
Lothar: You're not using that rock there are you?
Morg: Well yeah, I thought that maybe if I...
Lothar: You can't keep people warm with a rock. I just read this cave painting that said all the big caves are switching to mud for their warming needs. Why don't you try that?
Morg: But, you see, I think with a rock I could...
Lothar: Start working on a real solution. The chieftan is expecting results.
Morg: Okay, but I think I could use some help if you don't mind.
Lothar: Sorry, no time. The chieftan and I are going out for woolly mammoth.
Morg: I'll just get started on the mud then.
Lothar: You do that.Now I'm not arguing against trying new things or attempting tasks for which you're not traditionally qualified. And I'm in no way promoting passive coders who can't stand up to management. But I will claim that often, in many organizations, the very people who are too big for their britches are the ones who are actually detrimental to productivity. People who rise into positions of authority are only occasionally rewarded these positions based on merit. It's usually the appearance of confidence and the firm handshake that gets you the promotion, not any sort of actual ability. But I promised I wouldn't try to make any sort of coherent argument. So, back to Lothar.Lothar: Okay, are you about done?
Morg: Well, the mud idea doesn't seem to be working out all that well.
Lothar: Are you kidding me? It's past dark! We need a warming solution now.
Morg: I could go back to the rock approach. If you gave me a few more rocks to work with, maybe some flint...
Lothar: That will never work. Hmm.. Have you tried trees yet?
Morg: Trees?
Lothar: Yeah, try working something out with that tree over there.
Morg: Uh, I suppose I could try...
Lothar: Well, look at the time. I'm going to catch some shuteye.
Morg: I'll just be right out here... With this tree...
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Thank you posted by lavajunk441 on July 02, 2007 05:37 AM
Just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you for creating this site. It's informative and also a great way to get things off your chest. Wish I'd learned about it sooner. -
Re: Thank you posted by witten on July 02, 2007 03:51 PM
Hi lavajunk441,Thanks for the praise! Please encourage your friends to rate their current/former employers here as well. The site is only as useful as the employer ratings on it!