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"What I learned from losing $200 million" "The option they bought from me" The option was sold and backed by the bank at which the author worked, and he didn'
by ta1234567890 6y ago
"What I learned from losing $200 million"
"The option they bought from me"
The option was sold and backed by the bank at which the author worked, and he didn't personally lose $200 million. Seems like he's still very much deep in the illusion of control.
- fennecfoxen 6y agoHe designed the structure, participated in negotiating the deal, advocated for it with both internal and external parties, was entrusted to care for the deal, and is ultimately the primary responsible party for the deal in question and for the company's gains or losses associated with the deal. The language is not exactly a stretch.
- ta1234567890 6y ago> ultimately the primary responsible party for the deal in question Unless he personally lost $200 million, or he somehow needs to pay it back to the bank, then no, he is not ultimately responsible for the deal at all. What you are saying is that it might have felt that way to him because of his involvement and that it's understandable to feel that way. And that's ok. But it is also very tone deaf to use that language in an article about supposedly dispelling the illusion of control.
- Karunamon 6y agoI believe you may be conflating liability with responsibility.
- ta1234567890 6y agoNo. I'm saying that unless the guy owned the $200 million, and could've done whatever he wanted with the money, then he's not the one that lost it. In any case, here's the definition of liability: "the state of being responsible for something, especially by law". So liability is responsibility.
- fennecfoxen 6y agoExcuse me. We use English on Hacker News. We do not use Lojban. Because we use English, we will as a group continue to use terms such as "responsible" in the normal manner of the English language. No one has ever said that this was extraordinarily precise. This is one such use. Your hair-splitting complaints are not particularly appropriate to this forum as they do not effectively serve to make its communication more effective; nor do I have any reason to believe they are they an effective psychological marker of responsibility and the illusion of control as you assert.
- Karunamon 6y agoI'm responsible for expensive systems at work, and many of them have a value in excess of my entire net worth. At no point am I liable beyond possibly losing my job if I screw up and damage those systems. They are different words for a reason.
- ta1234567890 6y agoAgain, you are deviating the issue by bringing up the responsibility/liability issue. I'm not arguing that. If anything, you are essentially making my point. The guy in the story was not liable for the $200 million (beyond his job), hence he didn't personally lose the money, even though he says "I lost $200 million".