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The Ask

randsinrepose.com

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Re: The Ask

#71

Post by jon-wood »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #69
redelbee wrote: post #51

I understand the following isn’t the point of this piece and yet I still can’t help wondering: How much better off we would all be if “senior management” stopped playing these games to get things done and instead spent most of that time really considering the things getting done and whether they are ultimately good for individuals and society at large. We don’t need another product from the “fruit company” and we cer…

There's an intuitive appeal in having a coordination mechanism where good leaders decide which problems are important to work on and then get the smart people to work on those problems. But historically, societies structured that way haven't worked well; they struggle to get good signals on whether the solutions make sense, and the coordination mechanisms are vulnerable to subversion by bad leaders. The Soviet Union…

There is probably a middle ground somewhere between literal Soviet communism and unregulated capitalism. There are quite a lot of countries happily functioning in that middle ground, and while they're not making 15 people incredibly wealthy they're also not grinding the rest of the population into the ground.

Re: The Ask

#72

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

jon-wood wrote: post #71
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an intuitive appeal in having a coordination mechanism where good leaders decide which problems are important to work on and then get the smart people to work on those problems. But historically, societies structured that way haven't worked well; they struggle to get good signals on whether the solutions make sense, and the coordination mechanisms are vulnerable to subversion by bad leaders. The Soviet Union…

There is probably a middle ground somewhere between literal Soviet communism and unregulated capitalism. There are quite a lot of countries happily functioning in that middle ground, and while they're not making 15 people incredibly wealthy they're also not grinding the rest of the population into the ground.

Which countries do you have in mind? In the vast majority of the world today, people can become billionaires if they build a large company selling lots of goods or services people want to buy, without having to justify to anyone why the stuff they make serves "real human needs". You can do it in China, in India, in France, in Norway, etc.

Re: The Ask

#74

Post by drcongo »

singingtoday wrote: post #29

Something about this writing feels off, but for the life of me I can't say exactly what.

It's that opening paragraph.

> Coffee in hand, I sit down in the Cave. Any Tuesday during the work week, a sip, and I parse the calendar.

How many Tuesdays are there in his work week?

Re: The Ask

#75

Post by cush »

redelbee wrote: post #51

I understand the following isn’t the point of this piece and yet I still can’t help wondering: How much better off we would all be if “senior management” stopped playing these games to get things done and instead spent most of that time really considering the things getting done and whether they are ultimately good for individuals and society at large. We don’t need another product from the “fruit company” and we cer…

Sounds like you’re really going through it. Sorry to hear

Re: The Ask

#76

Post by keybored »

redelbee wrote: post #51

I understand the following isn’t the point of this piece and yet I still can’t help wondering: How much better off we would all be if “senior management” stopped playing these games to get things done and instead spent most of that time really considering the things getting done and whether they are ultimately good for individuals and society at large. We don’t need another product from the “fruit company” and we cer…

Some people long for a savior-leader to come along and right the ship. An Obama that can from the top make all the stuff underneath right. They can’t do it themselves because structurally they, the middle or lower layer, are deadlocked, or the system makes things unsurmountable. But then it turns out that the savior-leader can’t make things right because they too are a product of the system. Just as convinced that the system is too broken for them to fix.

Re: The Ask

#77

Post by jmole »

redelbee wrote: post #51

I understand the following isn’t the point of this piece and yet I still can’t help wondering: How much better off we would all be if “senior management” stopped playing these games to get things done and instead spent most of that time really considering the things getting done and whether they are ultimately good for individuals and society at large. We don’t need another product from the “fruit company” and we cer…

The $5 trillion didn't come from nowhere. People spend money on the products because they are helpful.

However, you're right that most people at these companies are so accustomed to the "free money faucet" from ads, huge margins, etc. that it's incredibly easy to end up totally disconnected from reality. That's probably what frustrates you the most.

I will say - after having left Google just about a year ago now - that there is literally no better time to make money in tech than right now. AI is eroding the moat of all large tech companies, and skilled individuals with passion and drive can make a huge impact on the world with an incredibly small budget.

You'll make it. All of us will.

Re: The Ask

#78

Post by joenot443 »

singingtoday wrote: post #29

Something about this writing feels off, but for the life of me I can't say exactly what.

I think it's just a characteristic voice. Just like you can tell Vonnegut, DFW, or Palahniuk from a couple paragraphs, Rands developed a pretty distinct sound.

Re: The Ask

#79

Post by allknowingfrog »

jmole wrote: post #77
redelbee wrote: post #51

I understand the following isn’t the point of this piece and yet I still can’t help wondering: How much better off we would all be if “senior management” stopped playing these games to get things done and instead spent most of that time really considering the things getting done and whether they are ultimately good for individuals and society at large. We don’t need another product from the “fruit company” and we cer…

The $5 trillion didn't come from nowhere. People spend money on the products because they are helpful. However, you're right that most people at these companies are so accustomed to the "free money faucet" from ads, huge margins, etc. that it's incredibly easy to end up totally disconnected from reality. That's probably what frustrates you the most. I will say - after having left Google just about a year ago now - th…

I think "because they are helpful" is OP's point of contention. Tobacco isn't helpful, but it's a product that people spend money on.

Re: The Ask

#80

Post by TomMasz »

It's interesting to see things from a senior manager's viewpoint, especially in comparison to what I experienced as a mid-level manager. But it's funny to see that they also end up in meetings that seem to have no reason to happen. We all laugh at "this meeting could have been an email", yet we experience it on regular basis and that's just how things are done.
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