Comments on: Ego – the Destructive Menace <blockquote>they are not their ideas</blockquote> You're absolutely spot on with that 2nd paragraph. On your final point that person you describe that has the self confidence, knows his own strengths, is comfortable with himself etc but know he's not perfect is exactly who I would describe as someone who doesn't have ego and isn't obsessed with their self-importance. But I guess we then maybe getting into semantics! Thank you for your thoughts.

they are not their ideas

You’re absolutely spot on with that 2nd paragraph. On your final point that person you describe that has the self confidence, knows his own strengths, is comfortable with himself etc but know he’s not perfect is exactly who I would describe as someone who doesn’t have ego and isn’t obsessed with their self-importance. But I guess we then maybe getting into semantics! Thank you for your thoughts.

]]>
By: Pete Collier/2011/05/28/ego-the-destructive-menace/#comment-4954 Pete Collier Sat, 28 May 2011 17:46:56 +0000 Yeah, what Deano said. The flipside of your article is that if you employ someone who has <em>no</em> ego, then they'll never be the person who speaks up in meetings to say, "hang on, are we sure about this?" The ideal is people who hold ideas about how things should be done, and are willing to stand by and fight for those ideas, but who also know that <strong>they are not their ideas</strong>, and that no matter <em>how</em> great or experienced they are, they will sometimes be wrong, and that their ideas may need to change. I'm not sure if that ideal is really connected to ego though: you will sometimes meet people who don't hold themselves in high regard, and who will just let other people bulldoze all over them... except in one particular field or aspect, which is the one thing about themselves that they <em>do</em> feel good about, so they resist any attacks on that thing with vehemence. Like, the guy who thinks 'well I don't know much, but I sure as hell know how to write shaders' and who will thus be placid and unimpactful <em>most</em> of the time, but will become as stubborn as a mule the moment you start questioning the shaders. So I'm not sure that ego is actually the problem: it's people thinking that they can do no wrong, and that nobody else could <em>possibly</em> have a good idea, that really causes problems. It's pretty common that people with big egos <em>also</em> see themselves as infallible, but it's not a one-to-one correspondence. In truth I think the ideal team member might be the one with the big ego - who is confident, knows his own strengths, is comfortable with himself, etc - but who also knows that he's not <em>perfect</em>, and that good ideas can come from anywhere. Yeah, what Deano said. The flipside of your article is that if you employ someone who has no ego, then they’ll never be the person who speaks up in meetings to say, “hang on, are we sure about this?”

The ideal is people who hold ideas about how things should be done, and are willing to stand by and fight for those ideas, but who also know that they are not their ideas, and that no matter how great or experienced they are, they will sometimes be wrong, and that their ideas may need to change.

I’m not sure if that ideal is really connected to ego though: you will sometimes meet people who don’t hold themselves in high regard, and who will just let other people bulldoze all over them… except in one particular field or aspect, which is the one thing about themselves that they do feel good about, so they resist any attacks on that thing with vehemence. Like, the guy who thinks ‘well I don’t know much, but I sure as hell know how to write shaders’ and who will thus be placid and unimpactful most of the time, but will become as stubborn as a mule the moment you start questioning the shaders.

So I’m not sure that ego is actually the problem: it’s people thinking that they can do no wrong, and that nobody else could possibly have a good idea, that really causes problems. It’s pretty common that people with big egos also see themselves as infallible, but it’s not a one-to-one correspondence. In truth I think the ideal team member might be the one with the big ego – who is confident, knows his own strengths, is comfortable with himself, etc – but who also knows that he’s not perfect, and that good ideas can come from anywhere.

]]>
By: Deano Calver/2011/05/28/ego-the-destructive-menace/#comment-4948 Deano Calver Sat, 28 May 2011 10:45:42 +0000