The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#61

Post by bell-cot » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 12:08 PM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #4

Something that has always surprised me a bit is how many developers want to run their own large companies. Wanting to run a small company is largely about personal freedom that comes for not having a boss, but wanting to be the head of a large business is a whole different ballgame. It's a role that encompasses strategy, leadership, and management - 3 things that can only really be done by talking to people and under…

> ...how many developers want to run their own large companies.

This sounds like an unremarkable subset of {vaguely dissatisfied lower-level workers who dream of a new job with far more power, fame, money, and/or interesting stuff}.

Similar are the people who read novels (at least occasionally), and have dreams of becoming a famous author. In my experience, ~0% of them are actually willing to sit down and try to write a 3-page story.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#62

Post by Aeolun » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 12:34 PM UTC

faeyanpiraat wrote: post #22

Aeolun wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t covet the role. I just feel I’d be marginally better than others that suck at it.

There was a study about some skill, and like 80% of people thought they are better than average.

Ok, say that that is true. I’m much happier subjecting myself to my own suckage than someone elses, so that’s a good motivation too :)

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#63

Post by elzbardico » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

Come from a rich, influential family.

Be white.

Be male.

Be ruthless.

Come from an Ivy League institution. If you have trouble being accepted into it, remember that if George bush could get into Yale, every other prick like you have a chance too.

Have no morals.

Despise the working class and fuck them thoroughly every chance you have to show the pricks in Wall Street you are one of them.

Be a sweet talker.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#64

Post by DebtDeflation » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:13 PM UTC

xelxebar wrote: post #15

What about the losers? Please fill in this table first, then we can talk about the whys and hows: | # sprinters | # non-sprinters | --------+----------------+-----------------+ CEO | | | --------+----------------|-----------------| non-CEO | | | --------+----------------+-----------------+ The "CEO Genome Project" home page looks just like promotion for a book. I guess you have to buy it before judging whether it off…

>What about the losers?

Pretty much the entire genre of "How To Succeed In Business" is nothing but an illustration of survivorship bias. The common attributes that get identified are almost always either also shared by those who didn't succeed or if not were likely irrelevant to the success.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#65

Post by dunkelheit » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:13 PM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #4

Something that has always surprised me a bit is how many developers want to run their own large companies. Wanting to run a small company is largely about personal freedom that comes for not having a boss, but wanting to be the head of a large business is a whole different ballgame. It's a role that encompasses strategy, leadership, and management - 3 things that can only really be done by talking to people and under…

The answer is status. Most developers are (despite being comparatively well-paid) quite low-status: people tell them what to do all the time and they are expected to comply. By contrast CEO is pretty much the top of the status pole. It is natural for human beings to crave status so it is natural to dream about being CEO even if most won't particularly enjoy it.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#66

Post by elzbardico » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:16 PM UTC

alanlammiman wrote: post #37

xelxebar wrote: post #15

What about the losers? Please fill in this table first, then we can talk about the whys and hows: | # sprinters | # non-sprinters | --------+----------------+-----------------+ CEO | | | --------+----------------|-----------------| non-CEO | | | --------+----------------+-----------------+ The "CEO Genome Project" home page looks just like promotion for a book. I guess you have to buy it before judging whether it off…

exactly. this is so basic, it's staggering that the article doesn't cover it. I realise hbr isn't a peer reviewed journal, but it's pretty disgraceful that a publication that carries the name of what is claimed to be the top university in the world peddles research that, whatever merits it may have, disingenuously uses a flawed argument like that. And unfortunately this isn't even the worst of its kind in HBR...

I don’t think it is surprising that HBR publishes this kind of article. On the contrary this is exactly why we can trace most of the organizational problems and a lot of societal ones to the ideology factory called Harvard Business School.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#67

Post by harimau777 » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:33 PM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #4

Something that has always surprised me a bit is how many developers want to run their own large companies. Wanting to run a small company is largely about personal freedom that comes for not having a boss, but wanting to be the head of a large business is a whole different ballgame. It's a role that encompasses strategy, leadership, and management - 3 things that can only really be done by talking to people and under…

I think that the issue is that many developers want to write "good" code but are forced to write code as quickly as possible to get features out the door. If you already don't enjoy your work because you are not able to take enough time to do it well, then even if you don't enjoy it, you may as well be the person in charge.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#68

Post by AdrianB1 » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 1:49 PM UTC

Aeolun wrote: post #16

So? They’re saying that people that became CEO within 10 years literally had opportunitie thrown to them?

Not necessarily thrown to them, but sometimes they were looking for. The "study" does not tell how to become THE CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but how to become "a CEO somewhere". If you want really bad to become a CEO, you can be the CEO of a free falling former big company, like a former director of mine is today: it checks the CEO box, nothing more.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#69

Post by atonse » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 2:13 PM UTC

elzbardico wrote: post #63

Come from a rich, influential family. Be white. Be male. Be ruthless. Come from an Ivy League institution. If you have trouble being accepted into it, remember that if George bush could get into Yale, every other prick like you have a chance too. Have no morals. Despise the working class and fuck them thoroughly every chance you have to show the pricks in Wall Street you are one of them. Be a sweet talker.

Eh did you even read the article?

It literally says the opposite. It says having an elite background does NOT correlate strongly with these sprinters.

A lot of it (one of their examples was a woman) is being able to take tough or risky challenges and rise through them.

Re: The Fastest Path to the CEO Job, According to a 10-Year Study (2018)

#70

Post by ___luigi » Sun, Oct 03, 2021, 2:26 PM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #4

Something that has always surprised me a bit is how many developers want to run their own large companies. Wanting to run a small company is largely about personal freedom that comes for not having a boss, but wanting to be the head of a large business is a whole different ballgame. It's a role that encompasses strategy, leadership, and management - 3 things that can only really be done by talking to people and under…

One book that helped me understand these challenges was "Hard things about hard things". I recommend/gift the book to any (engineer) friend who is burning to start his own business. It's a different game. Even Sr. Engineer is a different game than coding, we spend some time on System design, mentoring, presenting technical outcomes of our work/PoCs, writing new product requirements, .. etc. I think these tasks require other skillsets as well.