Andrea Weckerle

Put Kathy Sierra’s Knocking the exuberance out of your employees post on your reading list.

I’ve personally seen this "hire the best robot" mentality too many times to think it’s just a coincidence. And let’s face it, hiring robots is easier than having to deal with independent, opinionated, strong-willed individuals. 

But is it worth it? Certainly not in the long run. Kathy said it perfectly:

"Of course some argue that exuberance on the job is not necessarily a good thing. That too much passion leads to problems. I say BS on that one. Real passion means you love the profession, the craft, the domain you’re in….

If you knock out exuberance, you knock out curiosity, and curiosity is the single most important attribute in a world that requires continuous learning and unlearning just to keep up. If we knock out their exuberance, we’ve also killed their desire to learn, grow, adapt, innovate, and care." 

(Picture from Dan Coulter)