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There's a relative power dynamic at play here - if the head of a corporation or institution is free from consequences for making rather poor decisions (eg, Cybe

There's a relative power dynamic at play here - if the head of a corporation or institution is free from consequences for making rather poor decisions (eg, Cybertruck production), then it's easy to be fearless. If you're a mid-level grunt who yolos something and it's a disaster, you risk losing your job. Overall incentives do matter, however. SpaceX appears to be led by the engineering division, not the financial derivatives division, which is a big difference. If your metric of success is engineering a large bonus for your boss by making drastic cuts to the R & D division (see Boeing), versus successfully re-engineering a rocket engine to reduce maintenance and fuel costs...? The fundamental problem in the USA economy is that shareholder conglomerates like Blackrock and their pet executives at places like Boeing do not have to face the conseqeuences of their poor decision-making since the government (which is run by the pet politicians and bureaucrats of these financial conglomerates) always steps in to provide bailouts and relief, while never demanding any serious restructuring that might hurt the financial position of said conglomerates and executives.

bluefirebrand 2y ago
> If you're a mid-level grunt who yolos something and it's a disaster, you risk losing your job. This plays into concepts like privilege as well. If you are a trust fund kid with very high financial security, or have a spouse willing to let you become unemployed who can pay the bills, or a family willing to take you back home if you run out of money, or any number of other safety nets, then you can afford to be a middle manager yoloing decisions that fail once in a while in the effort to fast track your career Having safety nets that do not rely on yourself to be successful is a huge component of Psychological Safety that lets people take risks
- hilux 2y ago
  Incredibly true and important and ignored by almost everyone, especially the CEOs who've already "made it."
- calderwoodra 2y ago
  Agree completely. But if you're a middle manager, aren't there countless jobs available for you out in the world? Just being a middle manager is a safety net in-and-of-itself, so might as well take risks regardless of whether you have the above or not.

bluefirebrand 2y ago

> If you're a mid-level grunt who yolos something and it's a disaster, you risk losing your job. This plays into concepts like privilege as well. If you are a trust fund kid with very high financial security, or have a spouse willing to let you become unemployed who can pay the bills, or a family willing to take you back home if you run out of money, or any number of other safety nets, then you can afford to be a middle manager yoloing decisions that fail once in a while in the effort to fast track your career Having safety nets that do not rely on yourself to be successful is a huge component of Psychological Safety that lets people take risks

hilux 2y ago
Incredibly true and important and ignored by almost everyone, especially the CEOs who've already "made it."
calderwoodra 2y ago
Agree completely. But if you're a middle manager, aren't there countless jobs available for you out in the world? Just being a middle manager is a safety net in-and-of-itself, so might as well take risks regardless of whether you have the above or not.