Comments for Ken Sharpe

Comment on Acme, Inc. by Meta Value « Ken Sharpe

Meta Value « Ken Sharpe — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:47:39 +0000

[...] he does his job fairly well as far as I can see, but he is a sucker. Like my former colleagues at Acme, Doug works way too hard for nothing in return. He is here for a little over 12 hours a day putting [...]

Comment on Don’t be a Sucker by Meta Value « Ken Sharpe

Meta Value « Ken Sharpe — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:43:06 +0000

[...] insane. He’s a nice guy, and he does his job fairly well as far as I can see, but he is a sucker. Like my former colleagues at Acme, Doug works way too hard for nothing in return. He is here for a [...]

Comment on Information Addiction, or Maintaining Focus by P Suede

P Suede — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:23:00 +0000

I suffer from the same, thanks for putting it out there. I’ll try work on an incremental approach to cutting out some of the flab in my daily information intake because I know there is a lot of it. I’m sure it’ll help my focus on other, more important things..

Comment on Call First by Interdictory

Interdictory — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:15:09 +0000

Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation Anyway … nice blog to visit.

cheers, Interdictory.

Comment on Pressure to Perform Miracles by Jesper the Frenetic Problem Solver « Ken Sharpe

Jesper the Frenetic Problem Solver « Ken Sharpe — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:06:36 +0000

[...] barrier — the barrier of all these systems that I need but don’t have, the barrier of getting a working model of Jade out the door before people get antsy. Does that mean working more? Working smarter? Being more pushy? Maybe I [...]

Comment on Winning Big by Ken

Ken — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:19:52 +0000

You’re right, Win Big does seem vague. Someone carefully reading this whole blog might get the subtext, but it’s not clear at all. David and I have an understand that if I prove myself, I will be the CTO of Ideal. That, and options, will bring me closer to wealth and achieving my goals. Winning Big is a step toward that reality.

I think you’re exactly right, though. Calibrate your real confidence, and put up a facade of calculated overconfidence.

Comment on Lesson 2: People Matter by Ken

Ken — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:15:18 +0000

If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.
-David Ogilvy

Norvig is an unusually bright programmer, yes, but my point isn’t about Google or Norvig, it’s about Oglivy’s admonition seek talent.

As for sussing out good programmers by scent… there is a constellation of characteristics that suggest programming talent, but it’s not a science. Also, success in programming has a lot to do with people skills just like any other job, so the idea that Norvig has some kind of epiphenomenal rockstar radar doesn’t seem to follow.

Comment on Winning Big by JJAstor

JJAstor — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:04:46 +0000

It would have been interesting if you elaborated on the “win big” quadrant, and what that truly means so that your readers can assign a weight to that outcome.

I never thought of the overconfidence issue that way, but it’s true. Even some of the best leaders I’ve worked with think this way. I guess the best scenario is to have calibrated confidence in your own decision making process, and overconfidence as a facade.

Comment on Lesson 2: People Matter by Eliezer Yudkowsky

Eliezer Yudkowsky — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:35:24 +0000

Er, Norvig wants to hire candidates better than Google’s current average, not better than average generally.

Comment on Lesson 2: People Matter by Eliezer Yudkowsky

Eliezer Yudkowsky — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:34:42 +0000

Norvig wants to hire candidates better than average. It would be a very rare candidate who was better than Norvig. I doubt he has much interest in covering his butt, either; programmers can tell pretty fast who the bright ones are.