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Comment by edw519 | Hacker News Reader

"Very few people have such a good eye for talent."

That's OK because it's not necessary.

Management doesn't need an eye for talent. It needs an eye for demonstrated performance.

If Programmer A consistently delivers excellent software in x% of the time of Programmers B thru G, the users/customers love it, and the maintenance costs are a small % (if they have a way of measuring this), then what the f*&#%@ else does management need to know? Treat Programmer A appropriately or lose him/her.

Talent is in the eye of the beholder.

Demonstrated performance is on the bottom line.

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But do managers know how to measure performance? Really?

In an enterprise situation, for example, do "customers" really know if they love the software, or the presentation that sold them the idea, or perhaps they asked for something to be built wrong.

I would suggest that "very few managers have such a good eye for performance" no matter the metric.

When I was a low-level employee using custom-built SAP crap, I could have easily lost my job if I dare suggest an "improvement" on the software.

Demonstrated performance on what? A padded resume? A minimal contribution to a well known large project?

Or is your ideal company one that hires 100 programmers to perform the same task and then fire the bottom 95% after a code review? You're assuming the company has already hired all-star talent (accidentally?) and just needs to pay off their demands. What happens when this all-star leaves to balloon across the world - how do you find a replacement?

This is why projects with large teams contributing to one system or application make it exceptionally hard to pick and reward good programmers. Their contributions just wont stand out functionally in the mass of mediocre performing system.

Moreover, their code may be considered unreadable or even dangerous by less experienced team members, leading to situations when he is considered less capable by the management than actually is.

It seems to me developing systems with loosely coupled components rather than tight, rigid interfaces, and keeping overall size small is the only way for assessing performance of products of individuals. Not an easy way, for sure.

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