"If someone has it, it’s generally attached to a persona with various drivers and flaws, "
this stereotype needs to die. I have never found any correlation between being talented and passionate and being jerk. Quite the opposite. Most talented people are easy to work with but you should be able to keep up. Most jerks just think they are talented but aren't and have to be jerks to keep up appearances.
I think there is merit to this stereotype and you should not use personal anecdotes to argue ("i have never met/seen/found") against it.
Having a talent for programming imo means being good at abstracting away subproblems into nice encapsulated code units and having a passion for such tasks or the technical environment around it is like being a hobby bureaucrat. Now, tell me, this is normal :)
I could also use personal anecdotes of me, a classic nerd, rubbing incompatible company culture the wrong way.
“various drivers and flaws” doesn’t mean “jerk,” although lots of folks like to assume that anyone not in a fairly narrow band of behavior, is one.
I get treated like a jerk, sometimes, and I’m not one. I just don’t match the “modern software developer” stereotype, and that often makes folks uncomfortable. Most of my employees, while I was a manager, also were quite “different.” We weren’t always sunflowers and unicorns, but we also weren’t prima donnas.
I will tell you one thing: If we treat people with hostility, they will usually return the favor, which can establish an immediate negative feedback loop. Since humans tend to have “other -> hostile” built into our operating system, we sometimes never give cooperation a chance; starting many relationships off on a bad foot, right out the door. We decide someone is a “jerk,” because they fit (or don’t fit) an internal stereotype, and the rest is history, as we make sure that the relationship is going nowhere, from the start.
It can be seen on this very forum. I know that it happens to many others, but I can only speak from my experience.
Fairly regularly, someone that has never had any interaction with me, of any kind, suddenly responds to one of my posts, with hostility; usually in the form of an insult.
I may come across as a bit "stuffy," but I sincerely never mean to offer offense, or throw punches. I do have some personal positions that go against the common grain, but I don't consider myself to be much of a "bomb-thrower." Basically, I feel like it's a privilege to participate here, and try to bring something good to the table.
It was my job, as a manager, to understand each of my employees, as an individual, and my team, as a whole, and keep a balance, while also ensuring that the company’s priorities were being met. Also, there are limits, as to how much individual focus we can give each team member, when it comes to things like employment law and corporate policy, so there’s always tradeoffs.
It’s also been my experience that a good manager (and I like to think I was one) can coax excellence out of almost anyone. We often have a rockstar in us, but each individual has different blockers and accelerators. If a corporation has a culture of mediocrity, then they can force racehorses to pull plows, and Clydesdales to run steeplechase.
Some of my employees were driven by basic avarice, but I can really only think of maybe one or two, during my 25 years as a manager. Most were focused on their families, excitement over their work, being included as peers in high-functioning teams, or the satisfaction of a job well done.
Not everyone in my team always got along with each other, but it’s difficult to have a bunch of self-sufficient high achievers together, without friction. Surprisingly, we managed to stay together, as a team, for decades, and deliver value for our company.
this stereotype needs to die. I have never found any correlation between being talented and passionate and being jerk. Quite the opposite. Most talented people are easy to work with but you should be able to keep up. Most jerks just think they are talented but aren't and have to be jerks to keep up appearances.