

Keeping Your Company Asshole-Free - andrewhyde
http://blog.hackfwd.com/post/33289256086/klass-kerstin

======
brianwillis
I was surprised to hear that they ask candidates to spend a couple of days
working on a project, and then present that project to the company. That's a
substantial time investment to ask someone to make on top of interviewing. If
I was looking for work and every potential employer asked this of me,
searching for a job could take weeks or months.

~~~
_pferreir_
I agree. I am totally against hiring based on either stupid interview
questions or tricky programming problems you will never see again. However, I
think these guys take it a bit too far.

Maybe give them a project that only takes a couple of hours, just creating a
simple module that does some very basic thing. Try to find out how they work
rather than the final result.

~~~
ryzawy
The project/task really depends on the position applied for. All i can say is,
that the project is usually discussed in advance and things can be worked out
here. There are some fine folks here who were given projects which took only a
couple of hours.

------
Joeboy
Re slide 20: I recall reading that it's a myth that people who use the word
"I" a lot are particularly self-absorbed. I recall it being suggested that the
opposite might even be the case, perhaps because people were acknowledging the
subjectivity of their opinions rather than presuming to present an
indisputable statement of truth. I would look for a link, but the word "I" is
hard to google.

Edit: I might be thinking of this, or something like it:
[http://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-your-use-of-the-
wor...](http://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-your-use-of-the-word-i-say-
about-you-2011-8)

~~~
Deestan
> acknowledging the subjectivity of their opinions rather than presuming to
> present an indisputable statement of truth.

I actually try hard to use _I_ wherever possible for that particular reason.
Saying "I think a message-passing style would be best for this" is more honest
than "a message-passing style would be best for this".

~~~
coliveira
I don't agree with this because whenever you write something it becomes
obvious that it is your opinion, even if it shared by other people. If it is
somebody else's opinion and not yours, you would naturally say "somebody
else's said ..." If you want to emphasize that is just not your opinion, you
can also say so. It is much more cumbersome to keep adding "I think" when it
is implicit in the context.

~~~
jt2190
When you're the boss, your opinions are often interpreted as decrees.
Tempering your tone with qualifiers is necessary to get others to share their
opinions honestly.

------
ojbyrne
For some reason I took an immediate dislike towards the speaker, perhaps
because I had previously read the article about programmers having a negative
outlook (i.e. they're prone to being assholes) and his silly attempts to
please the audience by making jabs at marketing and PR staff. How do you
separate assholes from people you dislike for mostly unfair reasons?

------
23david
His presentation on slideshare: [http://www.slideshare.net/flaregames/keeping-
your-company-ah...](http://www.slideshare.net/flaregames/keeping-your-company-
aholefree)

------
ryzawy
Great to see this post here on Hacker News! I work at flaregames and
wholeheartedly agree with Klaas, we're asshole-free and that's not an
understatement. :)

------
xentronium
I can't help but wonder why I had such a bad taste in my mouth after watching
the whole vid. These cheap attempts at jabbing PR and Marketing people (not to
mention naming names and Deutsche Telekom 'joke') came off to me as cheesy and
badly thought.

------
atirip
I'm enormously glad that Apple board did absolutely not keep their company
asshole-free.

Writing this on computer that asshole created.

And btw, I do not know a single Genius (with uppacase G) who is not an
asshole, so go figure...

~~~
michaelt
I've met Donald Knuth, Steve Wozniak and Tim Berners-Lee; none of them seemed
like assholes to me. I can't think of anyone I've met, whom I respect but
consider an asshole.

By "Genius (with uppacase G)" you mean an Apple Store employee?

~~~
atirip
You are most likely correct in this. All geniuses I have briefly met are
indeed nice. But usually this is a mask. Wait until you get to know them
really well. Or read their bioagraphies. Oh, and I don not write this in
negative way, no-no, I just have observed that that's the way it is.

~~~
ktizo
I think you are confusing genius with something else. I'm not sure what yet
though. Possibly a badger.

------
digitalengineer
I find it amazing how many people in a team _don't share_ their insights,
assets or experiences with the team. Why is that? Is it fear?

~~~
lazyjones
It's probably the "I don't get paid for that" attitude ...

~~~
ExcitedByNoise
That is the worst. The "That's not my job" attitude is from people who are not
team players and believe that they are above doing certain work, regardless if
the work needs to be done. If you work in a problem solving profession, then
you just can't have this attitude, because eventually someone is going to ask
you to solve a problem outside your domain, and if you can't figure it out,
then it doesn't get done or they get someone who will figure it out.

Although people bringing their stapler to the IT help desk is one of those
times I might not be mad if the response was "That's not my job"

------
chris_wot
It's always hard when you think "I was being an arsehole at that time". Hard,
but good to realise. I think I had that moment just now!

In case you think I believe I'm always an arsehole, this isn't the case. But
there have been times I believe I was. I'll have to work on it in future :(

~~~
bjourne
I can't argue against you because I don't know the specifics. But to me, it
seems those that are the most worried about themselves being assholes are the
least assholish of people. People who do behave as genuine assholes never
reflect upon their own behaviour.

------
lindsaydayton
that's really great hiring advice. i love this process!

------
orangethirty
Define asshole, please.

~~~
nacker
A person counts as an asshole when, and only when, he systematically allows
himself to enjoy special advantages in interpersonal relations out of an
entrenched sense of entitlement that immunizes him against the complaints of
other people.

[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/10/ascent_of_t...](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/10/ascent_of_the_a_word_by_geoffrey_nunberg_and_assholes_a_theory_by_aaron_james_reviewed_.single.html)

~~~
orangethirty
Thank you. Seems I'm surrounded by assholes then with such a broad definition.
My thought was that an asshole (in general sense) was someone who always put
himself first. Thats why I did not understand the post as well as I'd like.
Again, thanks for taking the time to explain.

~~~
nacker
The Slate link really is worth reading. Assholology is _the_ hot topic these
days, and I have frequently found that reflecting on my _own_ asshole quotient
is more worthwhile than focusing on the assholes around me, to the point where
I begin to consider that assholes aren't ALL bad!

~~~
orangethirty
Your definition made me stop and think about _how big of an asshole I really
am_. It is tough to somehow relate and try and measure it, because I reason a
lot of social interactions and judge them as logical entities. Like you said
not all assholes arent that bad, because not all of them realize they are
assholes.

Though your term used to define it is wonderful. I would major in asshology if
given the chance. But it would require a minor in chraminology. :)

