This is so prescient given the events of the past week at OpenAI.
Hard not to keep asking yourself which player you are now and have been at different points in your career in the last. I think the important thing is to not be too fatalistic about it. As you say -- you’d be a B or even worse player at Rivian. But you could change that -- by finding a new job better suited to giving you a shot at being an A-player. And/or by changing your mentality and pushing yourself to drive through that wall. Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution to think about.
Great perspective! Most of us have been B or below players at some point in our career. We should reflect on that and figure out how we can move to being an A player
"If a company thinks it’s a family then bad decisions will inevitably be made."
I sympathize with the "A-player" meme, but the historical record unfortunately does not bear it out. It has to do with skin in the game. I laid it out here, and of course Taleb did it first.
The oldest, continuously operating companies in the world are ALL family companies. It's not so much that they never make bad decisions, but they manage to survive. Some of them. Obviously most family-run companies don't survive, but virtually NO "professionally run" company does.
Very subjective though. A month ago the majority would have said the entire OpenAI team (inc board) was amazing. Was it a family style culture that brought the recent situation. Alignment of people and leadership is what’s most important and clarity around that. The pro sports analogy works well when everyone thinks they’re in favor. But any pro sports person gets an injury and they’re out, there’s no loyalty at all. Important for leadership to just be clear about their values, purpose and leadership behaviors that they expect and align with. I’ve seen many businesses that run with the care of a family but be high performing and human. Most of these are private though, for obvious reasons! Public investors want the returns above anything else.
This is so prescient given the events of the past week at OpenAI.
Hard not to keep asking yourself which player you are now and have been at different points in your career in the last. I think the important thing is to not be too fatalistic about it. As you say -- you’d be a B or even worse player at Rivian. But you could change that -- by finding a new job better suited to giving you a shot at being an A-player. And/or by changing your mentality and pushing yourself to drive through that wall. Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution to think about.
Great perspective! Most of us have been B or below players at some point in our career. We should reflect on that and figure out how we can move to being an A player
"If a company thinks it’s a family then bad decisions will inevitably be made."
I sympathize with the "A-player" meme, but the historical record unfortunately does not bear it out. It has to do with skin in the game. I laid it out here, and of course Taleb did it first.
https://albertcory50.substack.com/p/whats-missing-with-american-ceos
The oldest, continuously operating companies in the world are ALL family companies. It's not so much that they never make bad decisions, but they manage to survive. Some of them. Obviously most family-run companies don't survive, but virtually NO "professionally run" company does.
You certainly have the right to express your opinions, especially since it’s your Substack.
Very subjective though. A month ago the majority would have said the entire OpenAI team (inc board) was amazing. Was it a family style culture that brought the recent situation. Alignment of people and leadership is what’s most important and clarity around that. The pro sports analogy works well when everyone thinks they’re in favor. But any pro sports person gets an injury and they’re out, there’s no loyalty at all. Important for leadership to just be clear about their values, purpose and leadership behaviors that they expect and align with. I’ve seen many businesses that run with the care of a family but be high performing and human. Most of these are private though, for obvious reasons! Public investors want the returns above anything else.