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dbacar | 29 days ago

> Wolves don’t care if they are seen or not. Wolves are entirely focused on the self-selected essential project in front of them

The wolves analogy is simply wrong. Wolves work in packs.

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hogehoge51|29 days ago

lone wolf. maybe he missed the significance of lone in that phase when he heard it first and thought it could be dropped. That is my working assumption, it happens.

Whether or not the natural world has such wolves, its a fictional archetype.

It is a particularly common theme in Japanese fiction, where the deviation from the social hierarchy requires a stong force of individual will. Interesting it is also common in Japanese technology breakthrough documentaries.

Ogami Itto - Lone wolf and cub is the first thing that comes to mind when the author says wolf.

lukan|29 days ago

I read those stereotypes as people phantasizing about being wild and free and a fierce (coding) biest, without actually knowing the wild. But it does have the effect on me to not being able to take it serious. If they don't even know basic facts about the animal they want to use as their metaphor, I expect way more to be wrong.

begueradj|29 days ago

Not all wolves work in packs.

Hint: think of the widespread expression used in terrorism debates: "Lone wolf". It's a self radicalized/motivated individual acting independently and alone.

Jolter|29 days ago

Lone wolves are not happy animals, though. They are less successful in hunts, they can’t take down large prey at all. They don’t generally produce offspring. They’re an unfortunate effect of the social structure of wolves, where young males who cannot find a place in the pack are expelled.

There are plenty of lone wolf developers, but you won’t find them in large teams. Or if you do, they’re dysfunctional. On their own, a lone wolf engineer is not generally able to complete large, important pieces of work. Some do! But they are exceptions.

michaelt|29 days ago

> Hint: think of the widespread expression used in terrorism debates: "Lone wolf"

I'm pretty sure the author doesn't think managers should create a culture that attracts and promotes terror attackers.

estimator7292|29 days ago

I think we can simply replace "wolf" with "alpha" and the analogy makes much more sense.

I mean that in the worst possible way.

readthenotes1|29 days ago

Especially since the whole "alpha" thing has been debunked, mostly.

Interestingly, it came out from putting random individuals in anhigh-stress prison environment.

"Alpha" in the wild is really dad and mom...