johnmaconline

Linus Torvalds ruined an entire generation of software developers.

Well, more specifically, he ruined a generation of his disciples in software team environments. He made it seem like it’s OK to be a giant asshole. Let’s be clear. It’s not. Not when you’re trying to build a great team full of sprouts and warriors, and you’re not one of the tech giants.

Torvalds is a master at his craft, no doubt. Yet, he’s equally infamous for a harsh communication style. Public rants and dismissive comments are his hallmarks. These behaviors spawned an intimidating, hostile culture. It squashed collaboration. It quashed innovation. It bred fear, not ideas.

Therein lies a critical lesson: Technical brilliance is not enough. An engineer who can’t play well with others can seriously damage the team’s dynamics, no matter how skilled they might be.

But don’t confuse “plays well with others” with “milk toast” and “B-players.” You need people who care, and you want them to speak up. You want conviction. You want creative tension, and you want everybody to hold each other accountable and to a higher standard. You should listen to ornery people who care. 

You just don’t have to be a dick about it.

You need people who argue about ideas, not about the person. You want people who can find empathy. You want people who contribute to the positive energy in the room.

Find the people who move the team forward, not backward. 

Hiring is hard.

Especially if you’re not one of the tech giants or a hot shit startup. But you can still hire and assemble a great team.

Previously we learned that hiring is not dating and that you’re looking for sprouts and warriors.

The secret is in strategic elimination rather than trying to assess perceived perfection. Shif your approach to eliminating those that will capsize the boat. 

Often, we’re too engrossed in finding ‘the best’, overlooking problematic traits that lurk beneath the surface. It’s like inverse anchor bias. The critical focus? Personality. Misjudge this, and you’re headed for an iceberg.

Consider arrogance versus confidence. You’re craving the confident, and you’re hoping to spot the arrogant. Arrogance dismisses critique and steamrolls colleagues, while a confident one invites feedback, respects peers, and fuels team synergy. You need to eliminate the blustery hype machines. 

Consider introversion versus milk toast. A great team member doesn’t need to be the life of the party or talk all that much. But she certainly needs to speak her mind and argue her convictions. The team needs constructive dissension and creative tension. You need to eliminate those who won’t ever speak up. 

Tune your hiring process to find the right personalities. 

The industrial machine drove the old work paradigm.

Work the hours. Supervisorship and micromanagement. Fifteen-minute increments. Org leadership. Come to this office. Park here. Sit in this office. We’ll give you snacks. Do what we say. Ask the boss. Fit in.

The old work paradigm required ever-increasing productivity, compliance, and hierarchy from the humans. Humans acting like machines.

But the industrial machine is in its death throes.

Queue the new work paradigm.

The new work paradigm values significance — for the mission, team, and the people.

Authority gives way to autonomy. Micromanagement replaced by empowerment. Compliance out, and creativity in. Our days aren’t dictated by the clock but driven by curiosity and commitment. Boundaries have blurred, giving rise to fluid, cross-functional teams. Unconventional thinking is celebrated, not silenced. The office no longer dominates work. Geography independence begets work-life integration.

This is the new work paradigm. Empowering. Engaging. Enthralling. Work of significance. Let the humans be the humans. Let the humans use the machines rather than be the machines.

The future is now. Embrace it with confidence or get left behind.

You’re looking for warriors, but warriors don’t always show themselves through flashy credentials.

Warriors go to battle. Warriors persevere. Warriors don’t stop until you’ve done the job. Warriors invest themselves in the team, the project, and the outcome. They’ve turned their scars into strength.

Warriors are made in the trenches, in the projects that have derailed, the classes they failed, and a life that’s gone sideways. In these harsh environments, they’ve learned to adapt, persist, and most importantly, overcome.

Herb Brooks, coach of the legendary 1980 US Hockey team, didn’t opt for the most skilled players. Instead, he sought fighters, individuals who knew adversity and still pressed on. He looked beyond mere talent, focusing on resilience, dedication, and the will to conquer.

In your hunt for warriors, ignore the shiny qualifications and uncover the gritty stories of resilience. Look for those who’ve fought battles, emerged victorious, learned, and are ready to take on the next challenge. Find those who value commitment over prestige, team victory over personal glory.

Warriors don’t require work experience in your field. Life throws each of us battles. Warriors are chiseled out of life experience as much as work experience. Sprouts can be every bit the warrior, just as a 20-year grizzled veteran.

How do you find them?

Listen to their stories — work, school, life. Discuss the battles they’ve fought. How they fought them. Find the uncut gems of wisdom.

Go beyond the resume and dive into life.

You’re looking for sprouts, and one of the best places to find them is fresh out of college. 

So how do you find them?

Experience has taught me this: the conventional hiring process for new graduates doesn’t cut it if you’re not one of the big tech firms or a hot shit startup. Google, Facebook, and Apple can afford the conventional approach to finding their superstars because they have a line of candidates that stretch out the door and around the block. 

So what if you don’t?

Toss the school name, GPA, and grueling theoretical interviews out the window. They won’t serve you, and that’s what everyone is looking at. You need to look differently. Don’t compete in that ocean. Find your own sea. 

Here’s what truly matters: Will this sprout succeed with us?

Software development demands a mix of technical skill, initiative, productivity, and teamwork. Spotting potential in these areas is the game changer.

Ask them one question: “What are you presently working on?”

If the answer smells like, “Well, nothing, I’m still trying to get my first job,” then pass. Yours will not be their first job, no matter what their GPA and class standing is. 

You need sprouts who are already working on something, regardless of pay because that shows initiative, creativity, focus, and self-reliance. They have curiosity and drive. They already care enough to do it. 

So, look for the sprouts who are already working on something. They’re your future.

You’re on a quest for sprouts and warriors.

Sprouts burst upwards, hungry to grow, learn, and become. They’re not complete, not yet. But within them lies a potential brighter than the brightest star. When you recruit, seek sprouts. Seek the thirst, the ambition, the raw, unshaped talent. More than that, seek the spirit.

Walt Disney built his empire by finding the right sprouts. The genius of Disney was his ability to see the sprouts, the raw potential, and to cultivate it.

Sprouts bring new ideas, energy, and turn into warriors.

Warriors win the war.

Warriors are embodiments of unwavering commitment, less about talent and more about resilience. They dance in the rain of adversity, not always the most gifted, but the most dedicated. They’ve tamed their tools, turned challenges into stepping stones, and carry a fire of willing contribution.

Herb Brooks built the 1980 US Hockey Team from a band of warriors. He chose fighters over flash. Grit over names. Resilience and experience in the ring, and those who had battled their dragons and emerged victorious. He transformed a group of collegiate athletes into an Olympic team that beat the invincible Soviets.

You don’t have to be Google, Facebook, or Apple to build an amazing team. You need to choose and recruit differently.

You’re gonna want to find sprouts and warriors.

Building your team is a quest, and it’s critical to your success. 

If you’re Google, Facebook, or Apple, it’s easy. The people will come to you. The A-listers will be pounding on your door to get in. All you have to do is select, and if you make a mistake, no big deal. Get someone else. The supply is never-ending.

But you’re not Google, Facebook, or Apple. You don’t have a long line of A-listers banging down your door. Don’t worry. You can still build an amazing team. In fact, you can probably build a better team. 

Of course, you’ll need to go about it differently. Ironically, you’ll turn it around on them and be the one to think and act differently. You’ll channel some Billy Beane (finding undervalued and under-the-radar talent by thinking differently), mix in a little Herb Brooks (getting the most out of who you have — warriors), and spread some Walt Disney on the top (finding people who will grow to be amazing — sprouts).

The first thing to understand is that Hiring is Not Dating. 

What’s next? 

Let’s go find the warriors and the sprouts. 

The craftsman knows that mastery itself is a skill.

Since it’s a skill, it can be learned.

Mastery, and by extension craftsmanship, follow curiosity, openness, others, effort, diligence, and time. Mastery doesn’t require special talent or genetics. Sure, those ingredients can accelerate or guide you toward the path, but they’re not necessary.

Each day, each project, and each challenge is an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve. Skill development requires it.

Because mastery isn’t just a destination, it’s the journey itself.

Masters acknowledge others and Luck/God/Universe.

The master knows he is connected to something bigger than himself. The master is one part of the whole.

Sometimes things fall into place for her, and she acknowledges this. She may consider it God, or the Universe, or fate, or the muse, or even incoherent luck, but she knows that the whole has contributed. She does not drink her own bathwater.

He also knows that he is not self-made and there is no such thing. The very concept of self-made is oxymoronic.

The master asks for review, takes criticism, and adjusts. Not for external validation but for growth.

He always gives credit to others and the whole. He is thankful for those before him and with him and who come after him. The master makes gratitude part of his daily practice.

The master knows she is not alone, nor could she have made it alone.

Masters remain flexible and current.

The master questions his own beliefs and his own methods. This may shake him to the core. He does it anyway.

Beliefs are beginning assertions, and methods are test procedures. She knows that sometimes they are wrong. As she produces, she adjusts accordingly, and her output changes.

The master also knows that skill sets and philosophies are fluid and ever-changing, so he keeps up. He doesn’t keep up so that he knows the lingo and can talk a good game. He keeps up to discern progress from bullshit.

He employs progress. He eschews bullshit.

A master knows when to be flexible.