>Is it just your team shuns you and then you end up with nothing to do
I think the "wither away" bit is probably actually the truth. Let's say you're consistently ranked in the bottom and stick to projects that don't add value to the company. Since stack-ranking determines compensation, someone who costs the company money probably gets salary decreases. After a while, an underperforming worker could make more money in a different company, and they take the hint.
Of course, since Valve is dedicated to hiring the right people, they probably don't hire too many duds. Talented people who just don't fit in probably just update their resume and go somewhere else.
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>Is it just your team shuns you and then you end up with nothing to do
I think the "wither away" bit is probably actually the truth. Let's say you're consistently ranked in the bottom and stick to projects that don't add value to the company. Since stack-ranking determines compensation, someone who costs the company money probably gets salary decreases. After a while, an underperforming worker could make more money in a different company, and they take the hint.
Of course, since Valve is dedicated to hiring the right people, they probably don't hire too many duds. Talented people who just don't fit in probably just update their resume and go somewhere else.
What's interesting about this is that it connects the ranking mechanism to the (seemingly unrelated and far more significant) hiring/firing mechanism.