Martin’s Golden Rules for Managing Quants
1) Always try to hire quants who are smarter and more knowledgeable than you are. Then the rest is easy. As their manager, whatever great thing they do, you will get credit for it.
2) Always treat quants as adults, even when they don’t act like them.
3) Managing quants is like herding cats – and cats don’t herd well.
4) The trick to getting quants to go where you want is to simply plant a treat (i.e. bonus $) at the desired destination - them let them figure out their own way to get there. You have to convince them that what you want is what they want.
5) Never insult, condescend, or scream at your quants - it's counterproductive because morale suffers and their opinion of you suffers even more. Plus, if you obeyed rule #1, they are smarter than you and able to devise extremely unpleasant ways of getting even.
6) Always practice openness & honesty, with no content-free press-release generalities. Quants can see right through those because of rule #1.
7) As with Ford Prefect, fear is contagious, so DON'T PANIC. (But always keep track of where your towel is, just in case.)
8) Always tell this to your employees, and follow through when the time comes: If a quant employee thinks their career is better served by going elsewhere, they should let you know, and you will give them a good recommendation. (Don’t ask for company loyalty – this rule will get you far more loyalty, and they would leave with or without your help; this way you keep them as a contact elsewhere.)
Rabin’s Rules
(Mike Rabin was my boss in 1991)
Curiously, an electrician who installed an outlet in my basement had these same 3 rules for his work.
1. Pay Attention
What are the features you are trying to model? Did you use the right day-count conventions? What did the client actually ask for?
2. Think About What You Are Doing
You are going to dinner at Nobu in an hour, and the TV in the kitchenette is broadcasting your favorite team’s tie-breaking game. Neither of these should affect the nesting of parentheses on your if statement.
3. Double-Check Your Work
Limiting cases and paper trading simulations
Benchmarking against other models
Compiler warning messages, rereading the term sheet, etc.
A second set of eyes (independent validation)
1) Always try to hire quants who are smarter and more knowledgeable than you are. Then the rest is easy. As their manager, whatever great thing they do, you will get credit for it.
2) Always treat quants as adults, even when they don’t act like them.
3) Managing quants is like herding cats – and cats don’t herd well.
4) The trick to getting quants to go where you want is to simply plant a treat (i.e. bonus $) at the desired destination - them let them figure out their own way to get there. You have to convince them that what you want is what they want.
5) Never insult, condescend, or scream at your quants - it's counterproductive because morale suffers and their opinion of you suffers even more. Plus, if you obeyed rule #1, they are smarter than you and able to devise extremely unpleasant ways of getting even.
6) Always practice openness & honesty, with no content-free press-release generalities. Quants can see right through those because of rule #1.
7) As with Ford Prefect, fear is contagious, so DON'T PANIC. (But always keep track of where your towel is, just in case.)
8) Always tell this to your employees, and follow through when the time comes: If a quant employee thinks their career is better served by going elsewhere, they should let you know, and you will give them a good recommendation. (Don’t ask for company loyalty – this rule will get you far more loyalty, and they would leave with or without your help; this way you keep them as a contact elsewhere.)
Rabin’s Rules
(Mike Rabin was my boss in 1991)
Curiously, an electrician who installed an outlet in my basement had these same 3 rules for his work.
1. Pay Attention
What are the features you are trying to model? Did you use the right day-count conventions? What did the client actually ask for?
2. Think About What You Are Doing
You are going to dinner at Nobu in an hour, and the TV in the kitchenette is broadcasting your favorite team’s tie-breaking game. Neither of these should affect the nesting of parentheses on your if statement.
3. Double-Check Your Work
Limiting cases and paper trading simulations
Benchmarking against other models
Compiler warning messages, rereading the term sheet, etc.
A second set of eyes (independent validation)