Mirror Mirror Review

I was preparing to write reviews for my team, and in the process of it I’ve got an idea that might be super-stupid, but at the first glance looks cool.

So, here is the idea. You’re evaluating Joe. As a thought experiment, imagine that you have two Joes. No, not clones, not doppelgangers, just two different people with similar background and personality traits. Skill levels should also be similar, while skill sets should be different enough to allow some tension. Oh, and if you really want tension you can also make them sexually compatible (it’s your own imagination, I’m not judging)

And then the question is: how these two Joes will work together and interact with each other?

• Are they going to be buddies?
• Is it going to be a friendly competition over who is better?
• Will they argue?
• Will they always bring their arguments to an agreement?
• Will they never bring their arguments to an agreement?
• Will they respect each other?
• Will they support each other?
• Will they rely on each other?
• Will they call each other lazy assholes?
• Will they trust each other’s judgement?
• Will they constantly bicker over minute details?
• Will they patronize each other?
• Will they secretly hate each other?
• Will they openly hate each other?
• Is it going to be a political fight for dominance?
• Is it going to be a wussy prima donna vs wussy prima donna shitshow?

And the second question then is: how team will operate with the second Joe onboard?

• Will it just increase capacity without structural changes to team dynamics?
• Will it make things better?
• Will it make things worse?
• What else will change?

Idea behind this exercise is that not everything that happens is equally visible. Like, accomplished tasks is an easy one: Joe shipped this feature, that feature, and that other feature, that’s pretty clear. Hard skills, also not that hard (no pun intended here).

On the other hand, spots in organizational fabric that are characterized by “I’m not happy but I can handle” are not so obvious, but they also can’t be ignored because it’s always “I can handle for now,” and at some point they snap, and, depending on pride and dignity, person either leaves before she stops caring, or she just stops caring.

And just to repeat, all this is merely a random idea that I don’t claim to be fully elaborated.

However. Let’s say you did this thought experiment, and you realized that you absolutely can’t afford having two Joes, because Joe is a “difficult person,” and having two of them is going to be a shit storm. But then, how do you manage to have one? Well, you have Kate, and she puts effort into compensating for Joe’s antics, even though she’d rather do something else, but if you’ll have two of those then she’ll just grab a bag of nachos and watch the show. And then it’s something you can include when assessing Joe’s and Kate’s net output.

Or let’s say you did this thought experiment, and you realized that you’ll absolutely benefit from a second Kate, because one you’ve now has too much responsibility on her shoulders, and misses a sparring partner. And then it’s something you can use to consider adjustments.

Or let’s say… Actually I’ve no idea what conclusions you’ll arrive to, so I think it’s a good point for me to wrap up this essay and go back to writing those reviews.

P.S. If you liked this essay, you might also like the book that I’m working on now. It’s still work in progress, but it will be done when it will be done.