Vaniver comments on The Importance of Sidekicks - Less Wrong

127 Post author: Swimmer963 08 January 2015 11:21PM

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Comment author: Vaniver 10 January 2015 05:16:46PM 5 points [-]

That's also the advice I often give to programmers, to think of themselves as working for a company (in exchange for money) rather than at a company (as part of a common cause). That advice makes some stressful situations and conflicts just magically disappear.

I hope you wouldn't give this advice to cofounders or early employees with an ownership stake, though, and that may be a better lens for viewing these sorts of relationships.

Comment author: cousin_it 10 January 2015 06:37:58PM *  1 point [-]

I don't think a cofounder should be a sidekick. It's more of a partnership, with voting and all.

Comment author: Vaniver 11 January 2015 03:06:43AM 6 points [-]

So, I think that a sidekick can feel some ownership over what their hero does, and that feeling that will make them a better sidekick (in part, because they will be less likely to stop thinking about it at 6 pm).

I'm also having a hard time disentangling this in my mind from thoughts about households: in some sense, couples cofound a household together, and it seems counter-productive to think about that in solely mercenary terms, or to 'clock out' of your household.

I think I also find myself unhappy with what might be reflexive egalitarianism that is unhappy with unequal splits of decision-making power or status or so on. It's okay to be unseen; it's okay to be a junior partner; it's okay to be a servant. A lot of talk about 'purpose' emphasizes having 'something bigger than yourself,' and it seems to me that finding purpose in the people around you is something worth applauding.

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