

You can't get permission for the wrong thing and don't need it for the right thing - BrookeTAllen
http://brookeallen.com/pages/archives/1300

======
BrookeTAllen
I was pleasantly surprised when someone posted my story about how my life
changed when I started caring about the people I don't hire (although my ISP
was not).

In wading through all the comments I categorize the reactions into two camps:

1) That's cool. 2) You're asking too much.

I am preparing an essay addressing most of the issues but I thought I'd share
my thoughts on inventiveness because, after all, what happened was that my job
candidates and I together invented a new process; nothing had been pre-
planned.

My dad told me the secret to success was to not be evil (way before google).
He didn't care if I became rich but he would be ashamed of me if I were evil.

This story from a someone who picked me up hitchhiking really makes a point
about the relationship between good, evil, and inventiveness. Hope you like
it.

(Original HN post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8859199](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8859199))

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klagermkii
Don't most of the problems come up in the excluded middle? Things where people
are doing things that they think are right but then, through their ignorance
or otherwise, have negative consequences that would have been foreseeable by
others.

Maybe you have a suggestion for improving the operation of a drill-press, but
you still ask for permission on improving it because maybe other people have
more knowledge than you do about why things were done in a certain way, as
well as seeing potential pitfalls of your new way.

~~~
BrookeTAllen
You are correct in that you accurately describe the problem and human
behavior.

What Jeb taught me that day was that I should put a lot more effort into
thinking about what is right and wrong and not assume that just because
everyone around me is doing something - or it has always been done that way -
that it is right in a moral, legal, or ethical sense.

But if it is not illegal, immoral, or unethical in its implementation or in
its consequences then why not try? All you risk is failure. So what?

Many people's sense of ethics really boils down to their selfish interests.
They don't blow the whistle until they are denied a raise but until then they
don't mind lying to clients, for example.

There are people who tell me that how I hire people is "wrong" because many of
my job prospects put in a lot of work learning something that did not lead to
a job.

But, look guys, I'm a nerd and a maker. I love learning things for its own
sake and making stuff of no use to anyone. I was just looking for fellow nerds
and makers and I started out saying that as long as we were not doing anything
illegal, immoral, or unethical let's just hunker down and do something hard
and fun together.

Some people thought that was BS and dropped out. So, "bye bye." The rest of my
candidates just wanted to learn and yet many didn't cut it. So what? Trying to
learn something and failing is no sin.

And then they take grief from friends, and the general public: "You loser...
you wasted your time and nothing came of it (i.e. no job)."

That's another thing; we nerds take a lot of shit from idiots.

I did not care then and I still do not care that much what people think of me.
I care whether I am doing the right thing or the wrong thing.

And I did not care about EVERYONE I did not hire.

But I sure cared about those people who put in the effort whether I could hire
them or not because they are MY people.

~~~
ctdonath
_All you risk is failure. So what?_

Others may have a stake in your failure. The risk may not be yours alone.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
Others like who? Parents, say? My parents would probably be more concerned if
I were unwilling to try something out of fear of failure than if I tried and
failed.

Or others like investors? Tell them the truth about risk up front. Also, don't
use people like parents as first-stage investors - it can get way too nasty if
you fail.

People like spouses and children are a special case. If I chase a startup idea
and fail, my spouse may share in the financial hit. I know, "For richer, for
poorer", but she may not be comfortable with that risk, and is entitled to me
being sensitive to how she feels about this. (If you're married, don't go into
a startup without your spouse's full support.)

~~~
ctdonath
I have a manager precisely because I need to _not_ know everything my work
impacts; my head is full enough with what I'm doing to make this app work
_without_ pursuing perfect knowledge of how coworkers, customers, sales,
marketing, investors, etc all fit in with decisions. I may be directed to do
"not the right thing" not because someone is stupid, but because I don't know
(and don't need to know) some of the interactions & consequences of doing it
(say, spending another day refining a process means good chance of losing a
potential major customer).

"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!" \- Douglas Adams,
_H2G2_

------
mcv
I don't get why that Bootlegger K-turn is less likely to lead to a crash.
Don't you risk a crash while backing up from A to B? But with a regular
K-turn, if you make a tighter turn while backing up from A to B you can stay
on the safe side of the road the entire time.

The primary advantage of that Bootlegger K-turn seems to be speed: by swerving
across the opposite side of the road, you can make a quick turn into the side
street, and then you don't have to make a tight reverse turn to get out. Less
turn -> more speed. But if I'm worried about a crash, I'd rater stay on the
opposite side of the street.

~~~
gpvos
Backing up is relatively fast, especially when you are running from the cops.
But you can't avoid the time you need to reverse at B, which is the most
likely moment the cops will catch up with you. So it's better to be at the
other side of the road then.

Funny how we think differently: I looked at the drawings and immediately saw
why he reversed that way, even before I read the explanation.

------
ctdonath
_don 't need it for the right thing_

That's presuming you have all the relevant information, which is typically not
the case in a larger organization.

------
SandPhoenix
When I read the title I honestly thought this was an article on Unix
permissions. Got pleasantly surprised by a great story instead.

------
ingen0s
Great story. Thanks for the morning inspiration.

