If the jerk is brilliant enough maybe you can buffer it somehow and include it in the structures, eg a dedicated jerk handler etc.

That is what is called a 10x people manager, and they are even more rare than 10x engineers. Not to mention they tend to get promoted too quickly to stay in jerk handling roles for very long.

Exactly!! I can’t stand his smug, self-satisfied style, and yet he has some of the most insightful thoughts around. One day, maybe I’ll grind my teeth through one of his books.

Just give them a dedicated space to work alone or with people that tolerate them without bothering others.

It's very difficult for me to separate the brilliant from the jerk in Taleb's writing. When he says "you can't make that inference because the distribution has a fat tail and you're a dumb fuck" I can't tell whether the sentiment embedded in this statement is clouding his judgement. So ultimately all the drama surrounding the brilliant jerk makes him far less useful than you might initially think.

I sometimes wish I have the presence of mind to add the dry remark -"I agree that that's your opinion." The one time I was able to actually pull it off, it deflated the jerk.

>colossal jerk

Can you give examples?

In the case of Jobs and Gates, they were both in charge of many people and hence many people's paycheques depended on their whims.

Taleb's twitter rants are, by comparison, a lone voice pounding sand in the middle of nowhere.

I could be wrong, it could be that Taleb is in charge of some hedge fund and he fires people for whatever reasons.