Hiring is Hard

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Hiring is hard.

Actually, hiring isn’t hard.  Hiring the right people is hard.  Very hard.

The more time I spend in the professional world, the more I realize that the fit of the people on a team is really, really important.  Just as important, if not more important, than skills.

I am reminded of something Kent Beck said at the Startup Lessons Learned conference last week.  Kent was reviewing the Agile Manifesto, and suggesting updates.

Agile, the manifesto says, values, “individuals and interactions over processes and tools”.  True, but Kent added that in the ten years since it was signed he’s come to value “team vision and discipline over individuals and interactions”.

I think both are true.  Good teammates value the people they work with and think carefully about how the team interacts, but (paraphrasing Kent) are also willing to optimize for the success of the company, and have the discipline to think about the whole team.

[Why am I thinking about this?  Because I'm trying to hire a good developer at Cheezburger.  We've been looking for about two months, but haven't found the right person yet.  Maybe it's you: here's the listing.]

Written by scottporad

April 27th, 2010 at 8:28 am

Posted in Cheezburger

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3 Responses to 'Hiring is Hard'

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  1. I thought for sure you’d reference the awesome blog post(s) from Union Square Ventures over the last few days & weeks — I absolutely love Fred’s post, that just went live today:

    http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/04/hiring.html

    p.s. Scott — you should convert your commenting system to at least include Disqus — love the social-ness of it

    Dave Schappell

    27 Apr 10 at 8:51 am

  2. I have to agree with you re: finding the right person. It’s a HUGE part of success! Having recently closed out my ownership in a startup of my own due to a rocky relationship, I can totally relate to how badly things can go if the “individuals and interactions” don’t line up. Best of luck tracking down that developer!

    Kevin

    28 Apr 10 at 11:46 am

  3. [...] thoughts are why Kent Beck’s thoughts about “team vision and discipline over individuals and interactions” resonated with me [...]

    How to Get a Job or Have Success at Work at Scott Porad

    4 May 10 at 11:57 am

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