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> In a posh New York apartment, Lee Kuan Yew was discussing global affairs when his dinner companion asked the former Singaporean prime minister whose governing

> In a posh New York apartment, Lee Kuan Yew was discussing global affairs when his dinner companion asked the former Singaporean prime minister whose governing model he most admired. Lee gave an unlikely answer: Vladimir Putin, who had stabilized Russia after the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union. > To Ray Dalio, sitting across the table, the analogy would have been seamless. There's been a few really good, long-form articles on Ray Dalio and Bridgewater recently. It's reassuring to see there's room for one that's not as good as them to also make it onto the front page of HN. For the sake of completeness, if nothing else, and because maybe they'll interest people in reading those better articles, and the book they are in service of.

dmix 3y ago
> It's reassuring to see there's room for one that's not as good It's not necessarily bad to seek inspiration from strong leader archetype when it's applied to business though (even though comparing someone to Putin on social media is like calling them Hitler today, but IRL there's more nuance). Companies aren't democracies. Even companies with experimental decentralized structures like Valve still ultimately have a single person at the top making important calls. Of course the overtly-negative stuff like not tolerating dissent is another question. But most people don't seek to draw inspiration from other famous leaders by trying to copy their worst negative traits. You tend to take the cream from the top from multiple people, ditch the negative attributes, and assemble a new whole.
- rurp 3y ago
  Putin's whole system is enforced through limiting civil liberties, murdering people he doesn't like, and other behavior that is widely considered abhorrent. I don't really see how you can learn much from the other parts of the system without considering the foundation they are built on.

dmix 3y ago

> It's reassuring to see there's room for one that's not as good It's not necessarily bad to seek inspiration from strong leader archetype when it's applied to business though (even though comparing someone to Putin on social media is like calling them Hitler today, but IRL there's more nuance). Companies aren't democracies. Even companies with experimental decentralized structures like Valve still ultimately have a single person at the top making important calls. Of course the overtly-negative stuff like not tolerating dissent is another question. But most people don't seek to draw inspiration from other famous leaders by trying to copy their worst negative traits. You tend to take the cream from the top from multiple people, ditch the negative attributes, and assemble a new whole.

rurp 3y ago
Putin's whole system is enforced through limiting civil liberties, murdering people he doesn't like, and other behavior that is widely considered abhorrent. I don't really see how you can learn much from the other parts of the system without considering the foundation they are built on.