You probably can't tell, but I spend four or five hours of research for every hour I spend writing these posts of mine. I consider the research overhead – as a longtime computer-industry journalist, I know that I need to stay on top of multiple trends and technologies so I can comment intelligently on new developments. Heck, I have to stay informed just so I'll recognize a comment-worthy development when it happens.

I do this research the way you do, I suppose. I make massive use of my browser's “Open in new tab” feature. When my computer starts wheezing, I know it's out of RAM and swapping pages to disk, so I stop and read a few pages, closing the 95 percent of the tabs that don't merit follow-up. Then I return to new-tab mode.

This probably isn't the optimal way to do research. If my deadlines were more pressing, I'd be more scientific about it. But I enjoy the odd side-trips my research method affords me. As the marvelous John Crowley points out in an old book I love dearly, sometimes the snake's hands in a story are the best part.

But I am digressing. What I want to write about is hiring.

Today's Web-meandering led me to an article called “How do startups hire the right people?” Before the page had finished loading, I had mentally composed a rebuttal to serve as today's SDTimes blog post.

It was the phrase “the right people” that got me riled up. I have a visceral reaction to the idea that we can divide the world's people into desirable and undesirable. I abhor the widespread belief that native talent accounts for the (very real) productivity differences among software developers.

My experience is that the right environment can coax superprogrammer results out of developers who would do average work in an average environment. I passionately believe that we are much better off improving our workplaces – the physical plan, the philosophy, the training, the systems – than searching for coding superstars. If we build supportive workplaces, organizations that encourage flow, then we don't have to ask the HR department to do magic. We can create programming stars instead of hoping to stumble across them in a stack of CVs.

Well. It appears I have stumbled over a soapbox. Occupational hazard, I suppose.

I'll say much more about this in a future post.

As for the article that inspired this little rant, it turns out to be innocuous. It wasn't the elitist diatribe I was expecting. It's an entirely defensible article that makes a good point. I'm not linking to it because it's way off-topic. Or, more precisely, I am way off-topic. Whatever.

Web recommendation: Dr. Anna Akbari's presentation at a recent TED conference hit me very close to home. She examines, in a studious way, the relationship between the technologies that are consuming much more of our waking hours and the effects on our quality of life. I love it that she moves past the usual hand-waving and provides some real data and on-target recommendations. Good stuff. J.D. say check it out.

J.D. Hildebrand has written hundreds of articles for dozens of publications and online communities dedicated to software development. He hopes his last words are the same as those of Steve Jobs, as reported by his sister: “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”