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It must be tough for a young executive to get up in front of the group and outline your new strategy to great excitement only to get an email from the dinobaby

It must be tough for a young executive to get up in front of the group and outline your new strategy to great excitement only to get an email from the dinobaby saying basically "Yeah, your idea was tried once in the 70's and a couple times in the 80's and it doesn't work. Here's several book references that go into great length why your idea seems like a good one on the surface, but really is one of the worst ideas that people keep coming up with"

aahortwwy 5y ago
I experienced both sides of this in five years at a company in hypergrowth. In year 1, I was determined to accomplish X and ignored the skeptical comments of some colleagues who'd been at the company longer than me. I failed and wasted some time. In years 4 and 5, new colleagues were determined to accomplish X and ignored my skeptical comments. I learned so much at that job.
- hinkley 5y ago
  It is a matter of kind though. One kind is realism, the other is cynicism. Optimists often lump the two together but they are different things. If the laws of physics or information theory prevent something, by all means be a wet blanket. Loudly and often If cultural turf wars in the company prevent something, often the New Guy can succeed where others have failed. If they fall flat enough they can join the Cynics Club with the rest of you, but telling them they will fail just cements your notion of what can and can't be done. Being repeatedly asked the same question by different people at different times and using different phrasing does occasionally get people to reflect on their assumptions. It is in my experience worth letting them invest the time and energy into the attempt. They're new, what's really the opportunity cost of letting them 'waste time on a lost cause'?
nickkell 5y ago
What was true in the 70s and 80s isn't necessarily true today. Technology and attitudes both change.
- sjg007 5y ago
  Everyone here needs to watch the AMC series "Halt and Catch Fire". Find it somewhere streaming. You'll be surprised and how similar things remain across technological epics.
mavelikara 5y ago
Most successful ideas were tried before and abandoned.
throwawaynay 5y ago
VR was tried a few decades ago(by Nintendo I think), it was a failure VR was tried again a few years ago, it got quite successful
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago
  >VR was tried again a few years ago, it got quite successful Has it been successful? It looks like a dead end to me.
  - Johanx64 5y ago
    For what's it's worth, VR porn is absolutely amazing. Interestingly enough that's rarely brought up. To me that is success. VR games are great deal of fun too and provide novel experiences.
  - throwawaynay 5y ago
    a multi-billion dollars market with a few millions users is not a dead end this isn't playstation level success but it's a joke to say it's a dead end
- yrro 5y ago
  See Colonizing Cyberspace for the history and state of the art as seen at a point in the mid 90s. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZonQVN4uw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZonQVN4uw Older hackers should recognize a few familiar faces in there!
spywaregorilla 5y ago
I would consider someone a moron if they cited something tried in the 70s and provided no contemplation for why circumstances may have changed over the past 50 years. That is just not a real answer. It might be correct, but that is absolutely unacceptable team behavior. I'd also be pretty pissed if someone tried to dump book references on me if it's their job to be the expert on that subject. My gut reaction to that sentiment is that this person is going to refuse to actually discuss content. This hypothetical dinobaby is immediately one of my least favorite people.
- vanusa 5y ago
  I would consider someone a moron if... I'd be pretty pissed if ... Sounds like you'd be a natural pick to run a company with 270,00 employees.
  - spywaregorilla 5y ago
    thanks!
- salawat 5y ago
  Hi! I'm the expert on the subject you hired! <Drop book references with further context and justifications for why your case falls right in line with those discussed in the literature, like an expert in the field would be expected to do> I mean, don't get pissed because it's been tried before, and no one will let you recultivate low hanging fruit to pick anymore. The fact more people are not well read on this type of stuff, is mind boggling. Even more mind boggling is people being upset about someone directing them away from the pit of misery, wailing, and gnashing teeth.
  - spywaregorilla 5y ago
    It is far more mind boggling to me that you think that this is an effective way to communicate.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  I mean, if you're the one coming up with the strategy, and someone else says "yeah, that's been tried a few times and never worked", I think it is then on you to explain why This Time Things Will Be Different!
krasicki 5y ago
It must also be tough for younger executives who are stuck with the idea that someone 40, 50, 60 or 70 is "old", near extinction, and so on. These are the individuals who are dinosaurs. and they are dinosaurs for being incapable of realizing that employment ages are getting extended due to longer, healthy and vital lifetimes. This is one of the crises of our time. That is the wholesale reevaluation of what work and careers are, how long they last, the effect on traditional workplaces, and so on. These companies are discriminating out of ignorance and because there is a ground-swell of pressure from younger generations to "move out" older workers so there's room for them to move up. Shorter work weeks and flatter organizational structures can play a role in remediating some of these issues. But 21st century "life" reality seminars are critical - more so than the dross of diversity trainings.

aahortwwy 5y ago

I experienced both sides of this in five years at a company in hypergrowth. In year 1, I was determined to accomplish X and ignored the skeptical comments of some colleagues who'd been at the company longer than me. I failed and wasted some time. In years 4 and 5, new colleagues were determined to accomplish X and ignored my skeptical comments. I learned so much at that job.

hinkley 5y ago
It is a matter of kind though. One kind is realism, the other is cynicism. Optimists often lump the two together but they are different things. If the laws of physics or information theory prevent something, by all means be a wet blanket. Loudly and often If cultural turf wars in the company prevent something, often the New Guy can succeed where others have failed. If they fall flat enough they can join the Cynics Club with the rest of you, but telling them they will fail just cements your notion of what can and can't be done. Being repeatedly asked the same question by different people at different times and using different phrasing does occasionally get people to reflect on their assumptions. It is in my experience worth letting them invest the time and energy into the attempt. They're new, what's really the opportunity cost of letting them 'waste time on a lost cause'?

nickkell 5y ago

What was true in the 70s and 80s isn't necessarily true today. Technology and attitudes both change.

sjg007 5y ago
Everyone here needs to watch the AMC series "Halt and Catch Fire". Find it somewhere streaming. You'll be surprised and how similar things remain across technological epics.

mavelikara 5y ago

Most successful ideas were tried before and abandoned.

throwawaynay 5y ago

VR was tried a few decades ago(by Nintendo I think), it was a failure VR was tried again a few years ago, it got quite successful

tonyedgecombe 5y ago
>VR was tried again a few years ago, it got quite successful Has it been successful? It looks like a dead end to me.
- Johanx64 5y ago
  For what's it's worth, VR porn is absolutely amazing. Interestingly enough that's rarely brought up. To me that is success. VR games are great deal of fun too and provide novel experiences.
- throwawaynay 5y ago
  a multi-billion dollars market with a few millions users is not a dead end this isn't playstation level success but it's a joke to say it's a dead end
yrro 5y ago
See Colonizing Cyberspace for the history and state of the art as seen at a point in the mid 90s. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZonQVN4uw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VuZonQVN4uw Older hackers should recognize a few familiar faces in there!

spywaregorilla 5y ago

I would consider someone a moron if they cited something tried in the 70s and provided no contemplation for why circumstances may have changed over the past 50 years. That is just not a real answer. It might be correct, but that is absolutely unacceptable team behavior. I'd also be pretty pissed if someone tried to dump book references on me if it's their job to be the expert on that subject. My gut reaction to that sentiment is that this person is going to refuse to actually discuss content. This hypothetical dinobaby is immediately one of my least favorite people.

vanusa 5y ago
I would consider someone a moron if... I'd be pretty pissed if ... Sounds like you'd be a natural pick to run a company with 270,00 employees.
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  thanks!
salawat 5y ago
Hi! I'm the expert on the subject you hired! <Drop book references with further context and justifications for why your case falls right in line with those discussed in the literature, like an expert in the field would be expected to do> I mean, don't get pissed because it's been tried before, and no one will let you recultivate low hanging fruit to pick anymore. The fact more people are not well read on this type of stuff, is mind boggling. Even more mind boggling is people being upset about someone directing them away from the pit of misery, wailing, and gnashing teeth.
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  It is far more mind boggling to me that you think that this is an effective way to communicate.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
I mean, if you're the one coming up with the strategy, and someone else says "yeah, that's been tried a few times and never worked", I think it is then on you to explain why This Time Things Will Be Different!

krasicki 5y ago

It must also be tough for younger executives who are stuck with the idea that someone 40, 50, 60 or 70 is "old", near extinction, and so on. These are the individuals who are dinosaurs. and they are dinosaurs for being incapable of realizing that employment ages are getting extended due to longer, healthy and vital lifetimes. This is one of the crises of our time. That is the wholesale reevaluation of what work and careers are, how long they last, the effect on traditional workplaces, and so on. These companies are discriminating out of ignorance and because there is a ground-swell of pressure from younger generations to "move out" older workers so there's room for them to move up. Shorter work weeks and flatter organizational structures can play a role in remediating some of these issues. But 21st century "life" reality seminars are critical - more so than the dross of diversity trainings.