At a previous job I had been placed in charge of finding some new engineers for our development team. When asked for his advice on how to filter candidates my boss's boss said “Try to find people that are better than you guys.” My initial reaction was “Wow, forget you, because that would be impossible because those people don't freakin exist, thank you very much.” However, after giving it some thought, and knowing his confidence in the team it was the best suggestion I could have gotten.
It takes some real guts to hire someone you would consider a superior. The natural place you go in your mind is “I've worked hard to get where I am, I'm not going to have some wunderkind come in here and take all the glory.” However, once you get over that initial apprehension there are many reasons it would behoove you to go against that instinct and humble yourself for a hot second.
When you end up working with this person (because you've set your pride aside and hired them) you have the opportunity to become more valuable than you ever could on your own .I mean, first of all, not only will your team start producing a better product, but this will reflect on you in a positive way as a good decision maker and manager. I mean, you know you're awesome, but putting together a team of amazing individuals like yourself makes you a rockstar.
Secondly, there is no bigger motivator than being afraid the new kid's star will shine brighter than yours. Who can't use a good kick-in-the-pants? We all get in ruts, or stop being at our best because we take things for granted.
Also, explore WHY they are better than you. What about them strikes you as a talent you haven't YET attained? How did they get there? What are their habits? You're not trying to BE them you are trying to assimilate their ability to your own. Maybe it's a lack of self confidence that makes you THINK they are better than you. You will learn this as you work with them.
Lastly, it never sucks to learn new things. Things about yourself especially. We, as software developers, can have egos as big as all out of doors. A little humbling ever so often can't hurt. Just keep that in mind when hiring and don't hire someone who THINKS they are better than you. Because in this industry that's much easier than finding someone that actually is.
Nice post... lots of truth in there. So what I sometimes get messed up on, is how do I get those rockstars to want to come work with me since the best ones also want to work where they are likely to learn a lot too. Not impossible, but I've found it tricky especially when you don't want to make the conversation all about yourself.
ReplyDeleteGood advice. The bottom line is you should always do what is best for the company/customer/user/etc. That's what we're paid to do. If you're successful at that, your career can't help but benefit.
ReplyDeleteThat does remind me of a situation at a job I had a while ago. We were expanding the team, and I was in charge of conducting the interviews. I found several top candidates, approved them, and they were hired. After I while, I noticed something and asked my boss..
ReplyDeleteSay, why do all the new hires have larger cubicles than me?
Because...um... they're all at a higher level than you
(Since the team was essentially all equals and the ranking was just for headcount -- and cubicle assignment-- reasons, I was given the next higher-level opening, and the next interview filled my old spot. I got my full-sized cubicle about 6 weeks before I left the company)
I think this article reflects the spirit of a good developer. Because you could have good technical skills, but they are nothing unless you have good moral and interpersonal skills, which can not be easily taught.
ReplyDeleteThere will be ALWAYS people that are smarter than you, and you actually want to hire them, and they are a great value for the team, just check that the attitude and interpersonal skills of that person to be at the same level of their technical skills.
Good interpersonal skills are. Humility, patience, respect, good dealing with people who actually does not think like you.
I think it's good advice to hire people who might be better than you, but I don't think this happens very often. First, it's hard to find good candidates unless you work at a good company and pay them alot. Second, most people won't want to hire someone who makes them look bad. Better to hire lower level people who you can boss around, give them the shit work, and blame them when things go wrong. Do you really want to hire your replacement or someone who might compete with you for a higher level job? No, so hire someone who is average and all of that is avoided. That's the mentality at most companies. FUMU is alive and well.
ReplyDeleteI was hired at a company and later told that they like to hire people right out of college so that they can mold them. What it really came down to, and this was obvious after working there for a while, is they wanted people to boss around and who would not compete for their job or any other opportunities that came up. Eventually all of the people that they hired at the same time as me left, but they just hired more of the same. When you work for a big company you eventually realize that nothing you do means much to the bottom line anyway, so why bother trying to help the company, especially since you get nothing if you do. Chances are if you work really hard and do the right thing to help the company you will get nothing extra in return, other than maybe a pat on the back. It's all a big game of Survivor. Form the right aliances, kiss the right asses, doesn't matter if you suck at your job because probably your boss does too and why would he want to promote someone who might eventually take his cushy job.
There's very little incentive to do your best. You might have that mentality when you start out, but eventually they will break you. Then it's all yes boss Paul, whatever you say.
If your experience is different and you've been in the workforce for more than a few years, then you are either fooling yourself or you are very lucky.
Wow Devo. That hasn't been my experience at all, but like you said... perhaps I'm just lucky. Also, I've never worked at a big company (only 100 employess).
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that what you describe exists out there, and may even be the majority... but really, there are places that arn't like that at all. Why would anyone ever stay at a place like that? I suppose the first step is to believe that the idealistic alternative is possible- otherwise you'll never find it (unless you get lucky).
I actually hired my replacement a few months back and he has now actually replaced me (I went from 26 direct reports to 12, and now 0). This was mostly to enable me to move on to bigger and better (for me) things. I can't tell you what that is just yet (we're still trying to figure it out at the office, meanwhile I'm just finishing a project, but that will end by January). It's a little scary, but in the end I know I'll be better off and so will my employer because my replacement is truly better suited for that job than I was-- and I'll be doing something better suited for me.
I agree with The Kicker, Devo. It's a bummer that you've had that experience and it sounds like you haven't been working at the right places. It's hard to find a well functioning team. Once you find people you can really work with, though, it makes all of life more enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAlways, always, always hire people who are smarter than you are. I've worked in companies where the founder was the limit of how good anyone there could be, and it sucked, big time.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal life, I've always known that there are people who will exceed my abilities in any endeavor you can think of, and I seek those people out. The more time you spend with smarter people, the smarter you get.