Ask HN: How to handle great producer, bad cultural fit? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to handle great producer, bad cultural fit?

5 pointsanonymous98766 comments

I work at a small startup. We have a guy, Dick, who is incredibly inflexible and socially tone deaf. Pull requests can last all day as he basically browbeats the submitter into rewriting the code the same way Dick himself would write it. When someone doesn't understand something he's talking about, his method of explanation is to simply repeat himself more aggressively. It's stressful to work with the guy.

On the plus side, he is technically very strong and cares a lot about the quality of the codebase. He is great at explaining the reasoning behind his very strongly held opinions (which, IMO, usually are the best approaches to things). When talking with him one-on-one, he's actually a very nice guy who clearly doesn't realize how he's coming off. Unfortunately, repeated conversations calling attention to the issue haven't changed his behavior. He thinks he's simply misunderstood.

I'm at a loss. He unquestionably adds a lot of technical value to the team, but just isn't fun to be around. We are small enough that losing him would have a very measurable impact on productivity.

1. Try videotaping or recording his behavior (you would need his permission) and have him watch it. This might not work.

2. Make it clear to him that his behavior is going to be an impediment to advancing (people skills), especially if he is going to lead projects in the future. DO NOT threaten or hint at firing him. That is counterproductive.

3. Try AznHisoka's advice and give him a standalone project, or offer to have him work remotely (again, he would need to work on a standalone project remotely).

4. Try all the above. Then do not hesitate to fire him if they don't work. You have to understand that someone with a bad attitude poisons the environment for everyone else, and since he's a very early hire, it has repercussions that last for years and can affect generations of new hires.

I would like to add that you should get him to sign a legal release as part of a generous severance package. The last thing you need is a former employee bad mouthing your company all over the internet.

I've been there. It's a tough call. Fire him.

"In well managed companies, Bad Attitude + Good Work = Your Fired" -- Dave Goldberg, Survey Monkey, http://firstround.com/article/How-Dave-Goldberg-of-SurveyMon...

I agree with mgrassotti's sentiments.

No matter how good or technically important the person may be, if they're not someone you can casually grab coffee with, it's gonna be really tough to work with them. Since you're at a small startup, this rings even more true. That person is probably not fit for your place (culturally).

If you were in Dick's position, what would be the appropriate action in a situation like this?

Should he switch jobs, be more selective in his critique of others' code, ask for his own project, ask to work remotely, or do something else?

Give him his own project to do, or try to make it as standalone as possible. Give him the option of working from home 5 days a week. Problem solved :)

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