The answer I got from AI did not satisfy me as it fundamentally describes bad engineering practices, not what I would call "brilliant".
I'm looking for a list of behaviors in practical situations. For example:
Brilliant because: - can code faster than most - knows how to architect a system for scale ...
Jerk because: - interrupts in meetings - does not acknowledge others' opinions ...
What have you experienced? I'd love to read anecdotes.
(This is to add more color to an article I'm writing)
I am not the original author, but I think the point is that when you're hiring, you try to hire someone who's brilliant, or at least not ignorant and/or dumb. But brilliant who is a jerk can destroy your team, so what you should be trying to hire is brilliant and "not jerk".
Too many people making hiring decisions get so focused on brilliant that they miss the other issue. But, as I said, I'm not OP, and this is just my impression of what they're thinking.
If you have never heard it before, "brilliant jerk" was a term coined at Netflix to describe their top performers who were also toxic to the team and could not be tolerated.
My goto question is to ask people what motivates them. There's a wide range of answers, but I usually find that what people disclose often helps me understand them better even if they may appear a bit like a jerk, and I can consequently give them more targeted feedback or coaching. I think spending 30 minutes to get to know someone is worth every second and can really help team cohesion and productivity.
Uncompromising - I've had very good leaders who were technically excellent and had very high standards. They could give off strong "jerk" vibes to many because they had values they were not willing to compromise on. They helped produce really high quality output from the team when they were in a leadership position and part of their job was to keep everyone aligned. This seems to work best for tight knit groups though, this style is not very suitable for larger organisations or situations where there are wide differences between people's expectations around workplace culture (you need more scheming vizier for this). Can devolve into an out-of-touch silo or a cult if taken too far. Does not work out well for people who are NOT leading.
Contrarianism - can be a useful personality quirk or a massive time waster, depending on the person, role and severity. Good QA and security work demand at least a little bit of this or they would just be box tickers.
Technical fixation - Strong, fixed ideas about what the best tools and techniques are. Useful because they become strong specialists. OK if aligned with team and project, very painful if not.
aurizon•3mo ago