So great startup engineers should have focus, compassion, balance, responsibility, and openness. When would you ever not desire these traits in someone? The opposite is scatter-brained, indifferent, unbalanced, irresponsible, and uncommunicative; all rather undesirable traits.
I'd much prefer to learn about some trade-offs. Is lacking any one of these traits a deal-breaker? What if someone's very focused and compassionate, but a little irresponsible?
And most importantly, how does one evaluate these traits?
Hey, you brought up another one: not a black-and-white thinker!
Things are not only their extremes and the opposite. Hence why "balance" is actually an extremely undervalued quality in a person, and it was very apt of the author to call it out.
I think your observation about thinking in black and white is a good observation. However, you still haven't answered the OP's original question. And adding your observation to the list, these sorts of things are still required at large organizations.
In my experience, it's rare that all of these traits are active in someone at the same time. This is what he was getting at. One can still be a good engineer and lack some of these qualities, but that wasn't the point.
I'd much prefer to learn about some trade-offs. Is lacking any one of these traits a deal-breaker? What if someone's very focused and compassionate, but a little irresponsible?
And most importantly, how does one evaluate these traits?