PHD job replacement Story

[integral]

So I got a call from a client to come to the office because he suspects that one of his PhD engineers is going to quit. He wanted me to come in and review the guys work so the company doesn't lose the project in the worst case scenario that he just leaves. 

So I show up and the first thing I learn is that the PhD graduate gave his resignation and was cussing out the boss for about an hour. They were at each other's throats.

• ⭐️ He claimed that no one could take over his projects because they're too advanced for the average person. That no one in the office has the level of intelligence that he has, and not anyone in the office can build the things he has built. As it requires true intelligence to do so. 

So when I walked in, I shook everyone's hands and did general introduction, and he immediately began to beraiding me with questions about whether I knew certain frameworks, or if I could solve certain algorithms and so on. To try to show that I was not qualified.

I diffused the situation using my expert people pleasing skills lmfao I intuited who he wanted me to be and molded to him and befriended him (he never stood a chance ), then we got into some engineering and had a blast, reviewing the code, laughed and everything went well. And I took over his five projects essentially from that point.

Afterwards, I spoke with the boss for about an hour, and he explained to me how right before I came they were having a pissing contest. Explained that he was very disappointed because he brought this guy on board to surround themselves with intelligent people which could help him improve the company and bounce ideas off and so on and it turned out to not work out bitterly.

So I explained to him that people have different skill sets and having a PhD is a different form of intelligence from social skills, maturity and emotional intelligence, I explained as of my first impressions that the PHD likely has autism. And boss agreed to me that the autism was obvious, but the boss couldn't get over it emotionally and was stuck on this idea that the person is a narcissist. Which in reality probably is but at the same time I was thinking like why do you care so much? He's one out of many people that you're gonna hire and financially you're doing fantastic, why does this person threaten you?

I also tried to help him empathize with the engineer in small ways trying to explain that, that he just doesn't have social skills, while on the other hand, the boss is functioning at a higher level in social intelligence, and it was obvious.

I just found this funny that people have no idea that a PhD does not make a person mature lol. And that watching the boss all unhappy and miserable when he's a multimillionaire, it was ridiculous.

Edited 8 hours ago by integral

[Oyashiro]

Insightful story. Your post reminds me of the quote "Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by his ability to climb a tree, he will live his entire life thinking his is dumb."

Like for with intelligence/dumbness and goodness/badness, I think maturity/immaturity don't exist as a linear spectrum but in some sort of crazy higher dimensional space where each human can be both very mature and very immature simultaneously.

For example, I consider my brother to be overall way more mature than me because he's so developed when it comes to running his own business, dealing with finances and constantly appeasing and making friends with super entitled and annoying or rude customers. But as soon as we order food and his food isn't perfect according to his high standards, there will be a massive meltdown for multiple hours with constant screaming and doors slamming.
 

Edited 8 hours ago by Oyashiro

[Miguel1]

Good Job on handling the situation.

1 hour ago, integral said:

I just found this funny that people have no idea that a PhD does not make a person mature lol. And that watching the boss all unhappy and miserable when he's a multimillionaire, it was ridiculous.

After studying human bullshit and unconsciousness, and also my own, seriously, for years -- I am not surprised at all at this behavior. In fact, it is to be expected.

Most people truly are just animals. Unconscious survival automatons.

 

[Basman]

I guess his esteemed position kept him insulated from his problems to a certain degree. It's why rich and powerful and heavily privileged people tend to lose touch with reality. 

Textbook example of being intelligent in one area and a dumbass in others. Why self-help is so great. It keeps you in touch with reality because you learn that there is always another level. Consider how insane you would get if you got super successful without any of the principles. You'd turn into a Trump.