Joel defends himself and our ilk (management) showing that what matters is that we make it so that our “superstars” don’t have to think about anything other than doing what we pay them for. While this is true, there’s a whole chunk of useful management in nudging the superstars in the right direction, where right comes from experience, not from some reasoned application of mind power. It frustrates me enormously when my boss does this – it’s a painful process, but nine times out of ten he’s right when he pushes against something we’re doing.
