Maybe this is a bit too practical and not as “world-modeling-esque” as your question asks? But I don’t strongly believe that raw intelligence is enough of a “credential” to rely on.
You might hear it as—he/she’s the smartest guy/gal I know, so you should trust them; we have insanely great talent at this company; they went to MIT so they’re smart; they have a PhD so listen to them. I like to liken this to Mom-Dad bragging points. Any X number of things are really just proxies for “they’re smart”
I used to personally believe this of myself—I’m smart and can get stuff done, so why can’t the PM just stop asking me for updates?-- but having been on the receiving end of this, I’ve adjusted my beliefs.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with “rockstars” in my field; people whose papers I’ve read, and research I’ve based on, and had on my bucket list to meet (a little nerdy, I know). But now I realize, even if you rely on someone who is incredibly smart, not having clear communication channels with aforementioned super smart person makes things difficult.
I believe that, while “being smart” is certainly arguably a pre-req for many of these things, the real “shining” trait is one’s communication skills. As in my above example of my annoying PM, it doesn’t matter how smart I am if I’m not able to provide some concrete results and metrics for others to monitor me. This has changed my behavior to leave a paper trail in most things I do—send followup emails after meetings, tracking Jiras, weekly accomplishments to personally note in 1-1s, etc.
There’s a balance here, of course, between “metric gathering” (or, more cynically, bean counting) and “letting engineers do things”. I would definitely complain so much more if I got pinged every day on status updates. But I’ve gone from “I’m a poor 10x engineer suffocated by bureaucracy and will crawl out of my cubicle when I finish” to “I understand the need for me to crawl out of my hole from time to time”.
I find this communication <--> deep work spectrum to pop up in tons of aspects of life, not just my daily work life. Investor relations, family/friend life, academia (see my book review above!).
Maybe this is a bit too practical and not as “world-modeling-esque” as your question asks? But I don’t strongly believe that raw intelligence is enough of a “credential” to rely on.
You might hear it as—he/she’s the smartest guy/gal I know, so you should trust them; we have insanely great talent at this company; they went to MIT so they’re smart; they have a PhD so listen to them. I like to liken this to Mom-Dad bragging points. Any X number of things are really just proxies for “they’re smart”
I used to personally believe this of myself—I’m smart and can get stuff done, so why can’t the PM just stop asking me for updates?-- but having been on the receiving end of this, I’ve adjusted my beliefs.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with “rockstars” in my field; people whose papers I’ve read, and research I’ve based on, and had on my bucket list to meet (a little nerdy, I know). But now I realize, even if you rely on someone who is incredibly smart, not having clear communication channels with aforementioned super smart person makes things difficult.
I believe that, while “being smart” is certainly arguably a pre-req for many of these things, the real “shining” trait is one’s communication skills. As in my above example of my annoying PM, it doesn’t matter how smart I am if I’m not able to provide some concrete results and metrics for others to monitor me. This has changed my behavior to leave a paper trail in most things I do—send followup emails after meetings, tracking Jiras, weekly accomplishments to personally note in 1-1s, etc.
There’s a balance here, of course, between “metric gathering” (or, more cynically, bean counting) and “letting engineers do things”. I would definitely complain so much more if I got pinged every day on status updates. But I’ve gone from “I’m a poor 10x engineer suffocated by bureaucracy and will crawl out of my cubicle when I finish” to “I understand the need for me to crawl out of my hole from time to time”.
I find this communication <--> deep work spectrum to pop up in tons of aspects of life, not just my daily work life. Investor relations, family/friend life, academia (see my book review above!).
Practical examples are certainly welcome.