

Reflections on Stress and Long Hours on Wall Street - as17237
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/business/dealbook/reflections-on-stress-and-long-hours-on-wall-street.html?ref=business&_r=0

======
degradas
Previous discussion -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9643401](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9643401)

------
nwatson

      > The firm held a small memorial service for Mr. Gupta,
      > who was universally liked by his colleagues and whom
      > several said was so good at his job that he had
      > become one of the “go-to” analysts. Indeed, his
      > proficiency and work ethic appear to have led to
      > him to take on a large workload.
    

So he was a 10x analyst and maybe would have gotten 25% to 50% more pay than
colleagues -- not worth it.

[http://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-
principle/](http://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/) \-- it's better
to coast (be a "loser" on the bottom rung) or be a psychopath (in upper
management), than to be "clueless" (to be very competent at your job and
become a tool in middle management). I hope and really don't think the
psychopath/clueless/loser model need always apply, but the Gervais Principle
holds a lot of water.

~~~
crpatino
> So he was a 10x analyst and maybe would have gotten 25% to 50% more pay than
> colleagues -- not worth it.

They guy died when he has barely old enough to (legally) drink a beer. I'd say
it was pretty irrelevant if he was making 10% or 1,000% more than his
colleagues.

The problem is that the system does not know when to stop. If you exceed
expectations, expectations raise until you cannot exceed them anymore. If you
have a good boss, he/she will shield you from the worst of it, but eventually
you need to learn how to say "No, I am afraid I cannot".

