- Only hire people better than you
- Ensure you create a workplace with high alignment and high autonomy
Management's job is not to dictate solutions or to be "the people with the answers". It's their responsibility to make sure the constraints are set properly, and that the environment allows smart people to do their best work.
I've got a few issues with that. First, and I know it's ego-centric, but I don't get a chance to hire many coders who are better than me. I've only met a few of them, IMO. That's partially because it's so hard to judge others, but partially because I honestly don't think they code as well as I do.
Second, just because they aren't better than me right now doesn't mean they can't surpass me in the future. If I rejected people just because they aren't better than me, I'm denying them the chance to grow and the company the chance to help and prosper from that growth.
I'm sure I'd have other objections if I sat and thought about it for a while, but those 2 came to mind rather quickly.
FWIW: Some of these ideas are echoed and further developed in "The Art of Action" http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSN2O
"The insight is that alignment needs to be achieved around intent, and autonomy should be granted around actions. Intent is expressed in terms of what to achieve and why. Autonomy concerns the actions taken in order to realize the intent; in other words, about what to do and how."
But I fully agree with the rest of it. Too many times managers view themselves as "the deciders" vs. supporting their teams and empowering smart people to make their own decisions.
At a certain point once someone is ramped-up, you need to let them sink or swim on their own. If they screw up, you address it, but you need to give them a chance to do that on their own.
It makes more sense to frame it as "hire people who can do something that you can't". You should be able to do things that they can't as well -- otherwise you're not bringing anyting to the table.
In other words, this is someone who is equally talented but brings a different perspective or skill set. It takes a lot of different people and skills to make anything.
Also, depending on the role, it might be different skillsets. Perhaps you are a better manager, but they are a better coder. That's often a good fit.
However it does run the risk of hiring ambitious people who expect to grow, and if they feel you prevent them from doing so, and they bring more to the table, it might turn the relationship sour.