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I think we are in agreement. As for the five or more hops issue, I think software is giving a generational opportunity to rework our organisations. I think ev

I think we are in agreement. As for the five or more hops issue, I think software is giving a generational opportunity to rework our organisations. I think every company has two organisations - the first is the one that does the real work (think the bit that records how much money each account has in a bank). That first part is becoming / has become totally automated - it is a "programmable company". The second part (tries) to chnage the first org. Direct it control it alter it whatever. That's the part that has project plans and managers. The two organisations are merged and confused in most places - even the hierarchies probably should be seperate. The point being that four of the hops you had weee probably not in the first org. The alignment was perfect for what stripe actually is / does. The politics lies in what it wants to become - and that is a function of whether te people in the second orgabisation will keep power in the new place. Software means we can I think seperate the two orgs.

tyre 4y ago
> The politics lies in what it wants to become - and that is a function of whether the people in the second organisation will keep power in the new place. Yes, this feels partly correct. There is a meaningful part of all layers that skew towards self-interest. Every hop amplifies the skew and has fewer checks because it is less visible/accountable to the top level. The local maximum for someone reporting to the CEO is much more closely aligned with the long-term best interest of the company than someone 3 or 4 hops away. Something I learned was just how much success is dependent on one's manager. In early startups, executing on what's best for the long-term success of the company (including when that is short-term optimization) is a good career strategy. Maybe the best. In larger companies—or at least in this single anecdata point, though others have said similar things about other bigger companies—that's not so true. I found that sad.
- lifeisstillgood 4y ago
  Yeah. currently experiencing that in very much clear terms.

tyre 4y ago

> The politics lies in what it wants to become - and that is a function of whether the people in the second organisation will keep power in the new place. Yes, this feels partly correct. There is a meaningful part of all layers that skew towards self-interest. Every hop amplifies the skew and has fewer checks because it is less visible/accountable to the top level. The local maximum for someone reporting to the CEO is much more closely aligned with the long-term best interest of the company than someone 3 or 4 hops away. Something I learned was just how much success is dependent on one's manager. In early startups, executing on what's best for the long-term success of the company (including when that is short-term optimization) is a good career strategy. Maybe the best. In larger companies—or at least in this single anecdata point, though others have said similar things about other bigger companies—that's not so true. I found that sad.

lifeisstillgood 4y ago
Yeah. currently experiencing that in very much clear terms.