Hackers & Managers

Often Managers don't understand Hackers. Also often Hackers don't understand Managers. This is bad. To get a better understanding, you should read the following

• ... to understand your Hacker (mostly for Managers)

  0. Section: Basic understanding.
     0. Won't my hacker break into my computer and steal my trade secrets?
     1. Was it a good idea to hire a hacker?
     2. How should I manage my hacker?
     3. Wait, you just said "10 times", didn't you? You're not serious, right?
     4. I don't understand this at all. This is confusing. Is there a book on this?
  1. Section: Social issues
     0. My hacker doesn't fit in well with our corporate society. She seems to do her work well, but she's not really making many friends.
     1. My hacker seems to dress funny. Is there any way to impress upon him the importance of corporate appearance?
     2. My hacker won't call me by my title, and doesn't seem to respect me at all.
     3. My hacker constantly insults the work of my other workers.
  2. Section: Productivity.
     0. My hacker plays video games on company time.
     1. But it's been two weeks since I saw anything!
     2. Isn't this damaging to productivity?
     3. My hacker is constantly doing things unrelated to her job responsibilities.
     4. My hacker is writing a book, reading USENET news, playing video games, talking with friends on the phone, and building sculptures out of paper clips. On company time!
     5. But my other workers are offended by my hacker's success, and it hurts their productivity.
  3. Section: Stimulus and response
     0. My hacker did something good, and I want to reward him.
     1. My hacker did something bad, and I want to punish him.
     2. I don't get it. I offered my hacker a significant promotion, and she turned it down and acted offended.
     3. My company policy won't let me give my hacker any more raises until he's in management.
     4. I can't believe the hacker on my staff is worth as much as we're paying.
  4. Section: What does that mean?
     0. My hacker doesn't speak English. At least, I don't think so.
     1. I can't get an estimate out of my hacker.
     2. My hacker makes obscure, meaningless jokes.
     3. My hacker counts from zero.

  and

• ... to understand your Manager (mostly for Hackers).

  1. Section: Basic understanding.
     1. Why doesn't my manager just do some actual work?
     2. Is it useful for me to have a manager?
     3. How should I deal with my manager's management?
     4. I don't understand this at all. This is confusing. Is there a book on this?
  2. Section: Social issues
     1. My manager doesn't fit in well with our corporate society. He seems to do a good job, but he's not getting along with the engineers.
     2. My manager seems to dress funny. Is there any way to impress upon him the pointlessness of corporate appearance?
     3. My manager insists on being called by a title, and treated in a formal manner.
     4. My manager complains when I identify faults in the work of my coworkers.
  3. Section: Productivity.
     1. My manager complains when I spend time decompressing with games.
     2. My manager is getting impatient during a design phase.
     3. My manager doesn't understand why I need to do this.
     4. My manager complains whenever something I need to do wasn't written in my job description.
     5. My work is done, but my manager wants me to look busy.
     6. I'm stuck, and my manager won't stop pressuring me to get unstuck.
     7. My job is boring and there's nothing to do.
     8. My manager wants me to stop "showing off".
     9. My manager insists that I come in to the office.
  4. Section: Stimulus and response
     1. My manager is doing a good job. Should I thank her?
     2. My manager did something that bothered me, and I want to get back at him.
     3. My manager wants me to do management; I am not interested, but she seems offended by this.
     4. My manager can't raise my salary any more because I earn as much as he does.
     5. I can't believe the manager on my staff is worth as much as we're paying.
  5. Section: What does that mean?
     1. My manager doesn't speak English. At least, I don't think so.
     2. My manager is demanding an estimate for something I haven't figured out yet.
     3. My manager has no sense of humor.
     4. My manager counts from one.

The Hacker FAQ

by Peter Seebach

The following list is an attempt to cover some of the issues that will invariably come up when people without previous experience of the hacker community try to hire a hacker. This FAQ is intended for free distribution, and may be copied as desired. It is in an early revision. If you wish to modify the FAQ, or distribute it for publication, please contact the author. The author is seebs@plethora.net. The official distribution site (as of revision 0.05) is "http://www.plethora.net/~seebs/faqs/hacker.html".

DISCLAIMER: The author (Peter Seebach) is a hacker. Bias is inevitable.

This document is copyright 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 Peter Seebach. Unaltered distribution is permitted.

Questions and Answers:

Section 0: Basic understanding.

0.0: Won't my hacker break into my computer and steal my trade secrets?

No. Hackers aren't, contrary to media reporting, the people who break into computers. Those are crackers. Hackers are people who enjoy playing with computers. Your hacker may occasionally circumvent security measures, but this is not malicious; she just does it when the security is in her way, or because she's curious.

Table of content [Hacker's section] [Manager's section] [Top of page]

0.1: Was it a good idea to hire a hacker?

It depends on the job. A hacker can be dramatically more effective than a non-hacker at a job, or dramatically less effective. Jobs where hackers are particularly good are:

• Systems administration
• Programming
• Design

Jobs where hackers are particularly bad are:

• Data entry

More generally, a job that requires fast and unexpected changes, significant skill, and is not very repetitive will be one a hacker will excel at. Repetitive, simple jobs are a waste of a good hacker, and will make your hacker bored and frustrated. No one works well bored and frustrated.

The good news is, if you get a hacker on something he particularly likes, you will frequently see performance on the order of five to ten times what a "normal" worker would produce. This is not consistent, and you shouldn't expect to see it all the time, but it will happen. This is most visible on particularly difficult tasks.

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0.2: How should I manage my hacker?

The same way you herd cats. (No! Not with laser pointers.) It can be a bit confusing; they're not like most other workers. Don't worry! Your hacker is likely to be willing to suggest answers to problems, if asked. Most hackers are nearly self-managing.

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0.3: Wait, you just said "10 times", didn't you? You're not serious, right?

Actually, I said "ten times". And yes, I am serious; a hacker on a roll may be able to produce, in a period of a few months, something that a small development group (say, 7-8 people) would have a hard time getting together over a year. He also may not. Your mileage will vary.

IBM used to report that certain programmers might be as much as 100 times as productive as other workers, or more. This kind of thing happens.

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0.4: I don't understand this at all. This is confusing. Is there a book on this?

Not yet. In the meantime, check out The New Hacker's Dictionary (also known as "the jargon file"), in particular some of the appendices. The entire work is full of clarifications and details of how hackers think.

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Section 1: Social issues

1.0: My hacker doesn't fit in well with our corporate society. She seems to do her work well, but she's not really making many friends.

This is common. Your hacker may not have found any people around who get along with hackers. You may wish to consider offering her a position telecommuting, or flexible hours (read: night shift), which may actually improve her productivity. Or hire another one.

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1.1: My hacker seems to dress funny. Is there any way to impress upon him the importance of corporate appearance?

Your hacker has a very good understanding of the importance of corporate appearance. It doesn't help you get your job done. IBM, Ford, and Microsoft have all realized that people work better when they can dress however they want.

Your hacker is dressed comfortably. A polite request to dress up some for special occasions may well be honored, and most hackers will cheerfully wear clothes without (unintentional) holes in them if specifically asked.

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1.2: My hacker won't call me by my title, and doesn't seem to respect me at all.

Your hacker doesn't respect your title. Hackers don't believe that management is "above" engineering; they believe that management is doing one job, and engineering is doing another. They may well frequently talk as if management is beneath them, but this is really quite fair; your question implies that you talk as if engineering is beneath you. Treat your hacker as an equal, and she will probably treat you as an equal — quite a compliment!

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1.3: My hacker constantly insults the work of my other workers.

Take your hacker aside, and ask for details of what's wrong with the existing work. It may be that there's something wrong with it. Don't let the fact that it runs most of the time fool you; your hacker is probably bothered by the fact that it crashes at all. He may be able to suggest improvements which could dramatically improve performance, reliability, or other features. It's worth looking into.

You may be able to convince your hacker to be more polite, but if there appear to be major differences, it's quite possible that one or more of your existing staff are incompetent. Note that hackers, of course, have different standards of competence than many other people. (Read "different" as "much higher".)

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Section 2: Productivity.

2.0: My hacker plays video games on company time.

Hackers, writers, and painters all need some amount of time to spend "percolating" — doing something else to let their subconscious work on a problem. Your hacker is probably stuck on something difficult. Don't worry about it.

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2.1: But it's been two weeks since I saw anything!

Your hacker is working, alone probably, on a big project, and just started, right? She's probably trying to figure it all out in advance. Ask her how it's going; if she starts a lot of sentences, but interrupts them all with "no, wait..." or "drat, that won't work", it's going well.

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2.2: Isn't this damaging to productivity?

No. Your hacker needs to recreate and think about things in many ways. He will be more productive with this recreation than without it. Your hacker enjoys working; don't worry about things getting done reasonably well and quickly.

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2.3: My hacker is constantly doing things unrelated to her job responsibilities.

Do they need to be done? Very few hackers can resist solving a problem when they can solve it, and no one else is solving it. For that matter, is your hacker getting her job done? If so, consider these other things a freebie or perk (for you). Although it may not be conventional, it's probably helping out quite a bit.

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2.4: My hacker is writing a book, reading USENET news, playing video games, talking with friends on the phone, and building sculptures out of paper clips. On company time!

He sounds happy. The chances are he's in one of three states:

1. Basic job responsibilities are periodic (phone support, documentation, et al.) and there's a lull in incoming work. Don't worry about it!
2. Your hacker is stuck on a difficult problem.
3. Your hacker is bored silly and is trying to find amusement. Perhaps you should find him more challenging work?

Any of these factors may be involved. All of them may be involved. In general, if the work is challenging, and is getting done, don't worry too much about the process. You might ask for your corporation to be given credit in the book.

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2.5: But my other workers are offended by my hacker's success, and it hurts their productivity.

Do you really need to have workers around who would rather be the person getting something done, than have it done already? Ego has very little place in the workplace. If they can't do it well, assign them to something they can do.

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Section 3: Stimulus and response

3.0: My hacker did something good, and I want to reward him.

Good! Here are some of the things most hackers would like to receive in exchange for their work:

1. Respect.
2. Admiration.
3. Compliments.
4. Understanding.
5. Discounts on expensive toys.
6. Money.

These are not necessarily in order. The 4th item (understanding) is the most difficult. Try to remember this good thing your hacker just did the next time you discover he just spent a day playing x-trek. Rather than complaining about getting work done, write it off as "a perk" that was granted (informally) as a bonus for a job well done. Don't worry; hackers get bored quickly when they aren't doing their work.

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3.1: My hacker did something bad, and I want to punish him.

Don't. 30 years of psychological research has shown that punishment has no desirable long-term effects. Your hacker is not a lab rat. (Even if he were a lab rat, punishment wouldn't work; at least, not if he were one of the sorts of lab rats the psych research was done on.) If you don't like something your hacker is doing, express your concerns. Explain what it is that bothers you about the behavior.

Be prepared for an argument; your hacker is a rational entity, and presumably had reasons. Don't jump on him too quickly; they may turn out to be good reasons.

Don't be afraid to apologize if you're wrong. If your hacker admits to having been wrong, don't demand an apology; so far as the hacker is concerned, admitting to being wrong is an apology, most likely.

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3.2: I don't get it. I offered my hacker a significant promotion, and she turned it down and acted offended.

A promotion frequently involves spending more time listening to people describing what they're doing, and less time playing with computers. Your hacker is enjoying her work; if you want to offer a reward, consider an improvement in title, a possible raise, and some compliments. Make sure your hacker knows you are pleased with her accomplishments — that's what she's there for.

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3.3: My company policy won't let me give my hacker any more raises until he's in management.

Your company policy is broken. A hacker can earn as much as $200 an hour (sometimes more) doing freelance consulting. You may wish to offer your hacker a contracted permanent consulting position with benefits, or otherwise find loopholes. Or, find perks to offer - many hackers will cheerfully accept a discount on hardware from their favorite manufacturer as an effective raise.

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3.4: I can't believe the hacker on my staff is worth as much as we're paying.

Ask the other staff in the department what the hacker does, and what they think of it. The chances are that your hacker is spending a few hours a week answering arcane questions that would otherwise require an expensive external consultant. Your hacker may be fulfilling another job's worth of responsibilities in his spare time around the office. Very few hackers aren't worth what they're getting paid; they enjoy accomplishing difficult tasks, and improving worker efficiency.

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Section 4: What does that mean?

4.0: My hacker doesn't speak English. At least, I don't think so.

Your hacker is a techie. Your best bet is to pick up a copy of TNHD (The New Hacker's Dictionary). It can be found as http://catb.org/esr/jargon (last I checked) or from a good bookstore. If you have trouble understanding that reference, ask your hacker if she has a copy, or would be willing to explain her terms. Most hackers are willing to explain terms. Be ready for condescension; it's not intended as an insult, but if you don't know the words, she probably has to talk down to you at first to explain them.

It's a reasonably difficult set of words; there are a lot of them, and their usage is much more precise than it sounds. Hackers love word games.

[It is also possible that English is not your hacker's native language, and that it's not yours either. Feel free to substitute a more appropriate language.]

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4.1: I can't get an estimate out of my hacker.

Your hacker hasn't figured out how hard the problem is yet. Unlike most workers, hackers will try very hard to refuse to give an estimate until they know for sure that they understand the problem. This may include solving it.

No good engineer goes beyond 95% certainty. Most hackers are good engineers. If you say you will not try to hold him to the estimate (and mean it!) you are much more likely to get an approximate estimate. The estimate may sound very high or very low; it may be very high or very low. Still, it's an estimate, and you get what you ask for.

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4.2: My hacker makes obscure, meaningless jokes.

If you feel brave, ask for an explanation. Most of them can be explained. It may take a while, but it may prove interesting.

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4.3: My hacker counts from zero.

So does the computer. You can hide it, but computers count from zero. Most hackers do by habit, also.

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If you found this information useful, please consider sending a token donation to the author (Peter Seebach); email for details. You might also consider buying a couple of books through his "affiliate program" link; you get cool books, he get pocket change. :)

Recommended books:

The links in this section will all try to take you to Powell's, where you can spend your money on cool books.

• The Cathedral & the Bazaar (Eric Raymond) — a discussion of different ways of building systems.
• The New Hacker's Dictionary (Eric Raymond) — a great source of trivia, lore, and translations for difficult concepts. (Not always in stock, I'm afraid.)

The Manager FAQ

by Peter Seebach

The following list is an attempt to cover some of the issues that will invariably come up when hackers without previous experience of the business community first start working in it. Other workers may also find it informative.

DISCLAIMER: The author (Peter Seebach) is a hacker. Bias is inevitable.

This document is copyright 2000, 2001 Peter Seebach. Unaltered distribution is permitted.

Revision 0.01 - Last modified February 7, 2001

Questions and Answers:

Section 1: Basic understanding.

1.1: Why doesn't my manager just do some actual work?

Management is a kind of work. Just as programs need architecture and design, functional groups of people can need organizing principles. Having a person picked to handle this work can reduce the amount of time spent trying to decide how to make decisions, and can free other people up to do the work they're best at.

Table of content [Hacker's section] [Manager's section] [Top of page]

1.2: Is it useful for me to have a manager?

It depends on the kind of job you're doing. A manager can dramatically improve your performance, both as an individual and as a member of a team, or a manager can get in the way and keep you from working.

Work environments where managers are particularly useful are:

• Large environments, especially with high turnover.
• Jobs where a significant amount of incoming information must be factored into planning.
• Jobs which are prone to substantial obstructions coming between workers and their work.

Jobs where managers may interfere are:

• Creative work.
• Fundamental engineering or research.

More generally, if the job allows for a person (who might not be able to do the job) to substantially help the people actually doing the work get it done, or depends on a substantial amount of decision making that doesn't really require everyone's constant input, it will probably benefit from management. If the job consists entirely of things a single person can just sit down and do, a manager may just get underfoot.

The good news is, a manager who does a good job of "running interference" for his workers can improve productivity by amazing amounts; you may see five to ten times the productivity you would have gotten if everyone had to stop working all the time to interact with the rest of the company (or the outside world). This won't happen all the time, but it will happen.

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1.3: How should I deal with my manager's management?

The same way you deal with any other source of requirements. Whenever possible, assume that she is basically aware of what needs to happen — possibly more aware than you are. Don't fight her without good cause, and she'll be fine.

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1.4: I don't understand this at all. This is confusing. Is there a book on this?

Probably not. There's lots of books for your manager on how to deal with employees, though, and if you read them, you may get a good idea of where he's coming from.

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Section 2: Social issues

2.1: My manager doesn't fit in well with our corporate society. He seems to do a good job, but he's not getting along with the engineers.

This is common. Your manager may not have found any people who get along well with "suits". A lot of engineers don't have the personality traits (or social skills) to adapt to people different from themselves; you should consider making an effort to get to know your manager, and accept his differences.

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2.2: My manager seems to dress funny. Is there any way to impress upon him the pointlessness of corporate appearance?

Your manager is probably aware that, in the abstract, the way she dresses changes nothing. However, part of her job is to interact with other people, and there are rules of etiquette for these dealings. Your manager's clothing, even when she's not dealing with other people, is selected in part as a way of telling you that she takes you seriously; it's just like calling people "sir". It's a convention, but that doesn't mean it's not a real convention, and your manager is honoring it.

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2.3: My manager insists on being called by a title, and treated in a formal manner.

Your manager's position is an aspect of a corporate hierarchy; his title, and the formal modes of interaction, are part of that structure. He is trying to do his job, which involves being aware of the "chain of command" and other corporate structures. He may talk as though you are "beneath" him, and in terms of who has the decision-making power, you probably are — but this may not mean that he thinks you are a less valuable person than he is. Try to treat him with respect, and remember that, in general, you show people respect on their terms, not on the terms you might otherwise prefer.

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2.4: My manager complains when I identify faults in the work of my coworkers.

Take your manager aside, and offer details of what's wrong with the existing work. She may end up not doing anything, but don't nag her about it; she's juggling a lot of other priorities, too, and there may be good reasons for which she's not doing anything about your complaints. Whenever possible, try to help people solve problems, rather than just complaining about them.

Remember that there aren't enough great engineers to go around; you may have to learn to live with the work that people who are merely competent can do.

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Section 3: Productivity.

3.1: My manager complains when I spend time decompressing with games.

Managers are used to measuring work in terms of "hours of work done"; in many cases, the work they're evaluating doesn't have a "percolation" phase, or isn't essentially unpredictable. Try to find ways to decompress that look a little more useful, if you can, or see if you can explain the "background thought" process to your manager.

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3.2: My manager is getting impatient during a design phase.

Managers are trying to deal with a lot of requirements you may never see. The manager is trying to run a business; he wants to know what the product is, and when it will exist. He wants to estimate costs. It's never possible to do a perfect job, but your manager is going to do the best job he can — which means he's going to try to figure out how long your design phase is. How do you figure out how long something takes? You measure the amount done so far, you look at how long it took, and you extrapolate.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work very well for design. Still, you can help your manager if you can find ways to express the state of the work. Doodle things on whiteboards. Write papers summarizing what issues you're wrestling with, and what issues you think are nailed down. The act of explaining may help you clarify these issues — and even if it doesn't, it will show your manager that progress, of some sort, is happening.

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3.3: My manager doesn't understand why I need to do this.

See if you can make time to try to explain it. Try to find ways to work through your problems that meet your manager's expectations for what people "working" look like.

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3.4: My manager complains whenever something I need to do wasn't written in my job description.

Try to explain to her that the task needs to happen, and no one else is doing it. You might suggest getting "general troubleshooting" added to your job description. Try to get documentation on how useful the work you're doing is — ask other employees to testify about the importance of what you're doing for them, for instance.

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3.5: My work is done, but my manager wants me to look busy.

Explain that your work is done. If your work is moderately periodic, such as phone support, suggest some low-priority tasks you could soak up... or, as an alternative, explain that part of the job is that you're effectively "on retainer", to make sure they have someone when the job does need to be done.

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3.6: I'm stuck, and my manager won't stop pressuring me to get unstuck.

The best solution I've ever heard is to ask your manager what happens if he loses his keys. How long will it take to find them? Once he's done looking everywhere he can think of, why doesn't he keep looking in all those places over and over and over? This is the best analogy to difficult creative work that most people will have had experience with.

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3.7: My job is boring and there's nothing to do.

Ask your manager for more interesting work, or try to get a transfer to a different department, or look for new work.

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3.8: My manager wants me to stop "showing off".

Try to avoid stepping on other peoples' toes too much. If someone you're working with can't get his job done, and it's faster for you to do it, go to your manager privately and discuss your concerns. If she says to live with it, do; there are many reasons why this could make sense.

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3.9: My manager insists that I come in to the office.

While much productive work can be done on your own time, in your own place, there's a lot of benefit to social interaction with coworkers. Your manager is trying to make sure that you all see each other occasionally, and build some social bonds. He's also probably aware that, when you do come in, you may get into a spontaneous conversation about some design issue, which can save weeks of work if you get the right people together. Not all meetings are productive; that doesn't mean no meetings are.

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Section 4: Stimulus and response

4.1: My manager is doing a good job. Should I thank her?

Yes! Managers, just like everyone else, need to know when they're doing their jobs well.

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4.2: My manager did something that bothered me, and I want to get back at him.

Don't punish him. Talk to him. Explain why the behavior bothered you. Ask him why he did it, or why this was necessary. Try to understand his reasons; they may be good ones, such as "if we don't finish this project soon, we run out of money to pay you in about three months".

If you find that the reasons are good, try to be understanding. Let your manager know that you were convinced. If you aren't convinced, try to live with the inconvenience anyway.

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4.3: My manager wants me to do management; I am not interested, but she seems offended by this.

Your manager is from a corporate structure in which one advances in a hierarchy; she may not be aware that you're enjoying your work for its own merits, not doing it in the hopes of being "advanced" to a new position. Try to explain that you're doing the kind of work you are because you enjoy it.

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4.4: My manager can't raise my salary any more because I earn as much as he does.

This is silly, but it may be beyond your manager's power to fix. See if you can find alternatives — maybe he can offer you extended benefits. If all else fails, try to get him to give you permission to do freelance consulting on your own time, and pick up some supplemental money.

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4.5: I can't believe the manager on my staff is worth as much as we're paying.

As you go through the day, try to keep track of all the things you're using and depending on that "just happen". Did you pay that phone bill? Who did? Your manager is probably doing a lot of things you aren't even aware are happening; this is allowing you to focus on what's important, doing your job.

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Section 5: What does that mean?

5.1: My manager doesn't speak English. At least, I don't think so.

Managers have evolved their own set of words, just like technical jargon, to communicate more effectively. Unfortunately, one of the things it's designed to communicate is "I can speak long words without stuttering". Still, the chances are that most of what you're hearing does have meaning, although it may be a little verbose.

[It is also possible that English is not your manager's native language, and that it's not yours either. Feel free to substitute a more appropriate language.]

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5.2: My manager is demanding an estimate for something I haven't figured out yet.

Your manager is trying to decide trivial little things like "where does the paycheck come from". If paychecks are to come on regular schedules, the company's income must come on, at least, a predictable schedule — which means your manager needs to have some idea of how long it will take you to do something.

Try to estimate. Go ahead and warn your manager that the estimate is inaccurate; you may want to use the example of "finding keys" to explain why.

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5.3: My manager has no sense of humor.

Your manager probably doesn't have the same appreciation for meta-humor, recursion, and obscure technical puns that you do. Try not to depend on jokes that require an engineering background (or at least an engineer's attitude) as a means of communication or bonding with people who aren't, in the end, here to be engineers.

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5.4: My manager counts from one.

Ordinals (counting numbers) have always started from one; counting from zero, while obvious and natural to many programmers, is probably wrong from a linguistic standpoint. Try to be flexible.

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If you find this information useful, please consider sending a token donation to the author (Peter Seebach); email for details. You might also consider buying a couple of books through his "affiliate program" link; you get cool books, he get pocket change. :)

Recommended books:

The links in this section will all try to take you to Powell's, where you can spend your money on cool books.

• The Cathedral & the Bazaar (Eric Raymond) — a discussion of different ways of building systems.
• The New Hacker's Dictionary (Eric Raymond) — a great source of trivia, lore, and translations for difficult concepts. (Not always in stock, I'm afraid.)

This article was funded by IBM DeveloperWorks. You can read their copy (slightly different editing, probably better) by following this link.

Comments about this page can be sent to lars@catsandcoffee.org.