5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

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ThefunnythingisitsasthoughtheyareplayingagameofSardines,alltrying
Connect
tocrowdintothecorneroftheroomlabeledstrategy.Buttheothercornersare
justasnecessaryandaecteachotherininterestingways.

TechcompaniesfunctionmuchliketheRomanRepublic.Yourinuenceismoreor
lessproportionaltoyourequitystake,whichisitselfproportionaltohowearlyyou Searchthiswebsite SEARCH
arrived.TheRepublicassignedvotingpowerandcivicprivilegesproportionalto
oneswealthandpedigree.Thebulkofvoiceandpowerwenttothegentry,
somewhatlesstosmallholders,andsoon.Atthebo omwerethosecitizenswith BeSlightlyEvil
nothingofvaluebuttheirlabor.Theywerecalledthecapitecensi,literallythe
headcount.

GervaisPrinciple

Philosophergurusaretheexception.Theysittothesideofthemainsocial
structure,butwithinwhisperingdistanceofthetop.Halfoftheirvaluecomesfrom
thisotherness,enablingaristocratstoargueideasoutsideoftherulesofthe
hierarchy.Awinkfromtherulerisasgoodasanod,anditstiresometohaveyour
underlingsscrambletheirplans,getspooked,spreadrumors,orgenerally
misunderstandwhenyouaresimplyworkingthroughanidea.Talkingwithaguru
isaholidayfromintrigue. Tempo

Theguruonlylistensandresponds.Hedoesntschemebecausehehasnothingto
schemewith.Thisallowshimtochallenge&questiontoadegreethatwouldbe
unwisefromothers.Onlythemusicmastercaninterruptthekingsplaying.Only
thefencingmastercana ackhimwithasword.Thispartoftheguruserviceis
appropriatelycalledexecutivesparring.

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5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

Theotherpartisdevelopingsystemsofthoughtfocusedontheuniqueproblemsof
theagetheyarein.EveryChinesephilosopherhadhiddeninhisrobestheonetrue
waytounifythestate.EveryGreek,thewaytorationalizetheworld.Therearelots
ofhardproblemstechexecsfacetoday:howtostockpiletalentinawaythat
doesntcosttoomuch,corneringthemarketonusefuldataows,dealingwith
nationstatestryingtohackthem,ormanagingsprawlingempireswithrelatively
fewpeople.Butwhethertheyknowitornot,thefundamentalproblemfacing
todaystechexecistheproblemofgovernance.

Sothegurusays
Goaheadandeattheworld,butlearntochewbeforeyouswallow.

EveryCradleisaGrave
Corporationsdonotwanttolegislate,letaloneenforce,moreof
humanitysbehaviorthantheyneedto.Theyhavebe erthingstodo.Theuniverse
isntgoingtodentitself.Butbecausetheyareoutpacingtraditionalgovernmentsin
theirabilitytopredict&shapehumanbehavior,theywalkrightinto
stupidlyimpossiblesituationsoverandoveragain.Softwareisnteatingtheworld
somuchaslarpingit.

Thegovernanceproblemisnotaboutdealingwithgovernmentsassuch,butabout
accidentallyadoptingorcreatingarenasofhumanbehaviorthatyouthenhaveto
govern,withexternalitiesthatdontremainexternal.Startingaridesharing
service?Congratulations,yourenowanurbanplanner.Wanttodisruptshipping
logistics?Getreadytodoyourparttocurbterrorismandslavery.

Theproblemofgovernanceariseswherevermovefastandbreakthingsruns
rightintoanoldersaying:youbrokeit,youboughtit.

Sometimesthingsblowupsquarelyonyourturf.Thinkaboutwhatittakesto
enforceasocialnetworkrealnamespolicyacrosshundredsofcultures.One
accountperperson,onepersonperaccount,authenticnamesasusedinreallife.
ZucksbuddyCalvincanpostpicturesofhimselfholdingpoundsofweedbuthe
cantusethenamehesknownby,SnoopDogg.

TherulewasrelaxedabitaftertheRealNamesWarsof2014.

Topolicethepolicyyourelyonautomationandcrowdsourcing.Thatsetsthestage
foraninstantideologicalslapght,withbrigadesoftrollsdisablingaccountsof
peopletheydontlikebyreportingtheirnamesasfaketoadumbprogramthat
doesntknowanybe er.Antispamtoolssubvertedtoenableharassment.Nobody
ishappyandeveryoneblamesyou.

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5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

Andthenthereisfakenews.FromaquickglanceatFacebookpostsabouthim,it
seemsthatolSnoopissimultaneouslydead,alive,sober,high,recoveringfroma
hearta ack,eeingthecountry,andunderarrest.Wheredoeshendthetime?

Jerkingpeoplearoundlikethatisrelativelyharmless.Butelectionsarebasedon
thenotionthatasinglesamplingofconsensusatapresettimeisagoodwayto
se leimportantdecisions.Thisturnssocialmediaintoaba legroundfor
propagandawarswithrealconsequences.Buildingamessagingplatform?Execute
wellandyouruserscantoppledictatorsormakearealityshowhostPresidentof
theUnitedStates.

Techcompaniesarestumblingtheirwayintoresponsibilityoverbigimportant
chunksoftherealworld.Throughtheperfectbureaucracyofsoftwaretheyknow
more,canpredictmore,andcandirect&inuencemorehumanbehaviorthanany
governmentdreamedof.Theycanalsodatadriveusrightoacli.Companies
areaslikegods,sotheybe ergetgoodatit.

Andthenthepriestsays
Bullshit.Wererunningabusinesshere.

Priests(akaviziers)arethepeoplearrayedaroundtheexec.Ifthewanderingguru
getshismojofromstayinginmotionandquestioningassumptions,thepriestgets
hisfromexecutingonthecurrentvisionandbuildingarepeatablebusiness.
HedoesnthavetimetohumorsomestrategyconsultantwithaPoirotComplex,
andisjealousofhisholdonthenerdkingsear.

Werenotagovernment,herepeats.Werejustmakingatomsmovelikebits.
Onceweveworkedoutthebugsintheespressobrewingdeliverydroneswe
wontevenneedphysicalcafs.Weneedtofocusonexecution.

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5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

Westillhaventdecidedtogoallinonthat,thenerdkingsays.

Ah,saystheguru.Assumeyoudo.Whathappenstoliabilityletalone
securitywhenyoucandropdoublehalfcafventisthroughanyoneswindow?
Whathappenstotheprincipleofhospitalitywhenyouarenolongerahost,buta
guest?

Theresalotgoingonhere.Letsrelabelthequadrantsandremovethepeople.
Talentedindividualscananddooccupyanyofthefourquadrantsfromtimeto
time,buttendtogravitatetowardone.

Doctrine,akathevisionthing.Fundamentaltruthsaboutaparticular
domain.OneofGooglesearliestdoctrineswasthatinsteadofeversmarter
O(N)algorithmsoversmalldata,youshouldrundumblinearonesoverbig
data.Manipulatingdoctrineisaboutscrewingaroundwithbasicassumptions.
Youtakewhatseemslikealawofnatureanddenyitoripitupsidedown
andseehowtheuniversewouldplayoutdierently.Ifthatworldview
describesrealitybe er,yourunwithit.
Strategy,whichisnotabouthighfalutinabstractideas,butspecicactions
thatareinformedbythedoctrineandcontextunderwhichyouoperate.For
example,from2003orsoitwasaveryeectivestratagemforprogrammersto
learnhowtowritewellandtofoundopensourceprojectsinordertolevelup
theirinuence.Todayitsstillvalidbutlessofahomerun.
Tactics,whichisaboutabstractideas.Orrathergeneralizedrepeatableideas.
ThinkofA/Btestingandallofthetriedandtruetacticsthathelpyoudoit
well.Tacticianscollectandcatalogthingsthatseemtowork.
Operations,orge ingshitdone.GSDisabouthi ingatargetrevealedby
strategydevelopedunderadoctrine,usingtherighttactics.Ordeveloping
newonesoutofdesperation,whichisgenerallyhownewtacticsgettriedout.
Anoperationspersongetspositivejoyfromworkingonexactlytheright
probleminexactlythewrongway.

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5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

Soapriest,aguru,andanerdkingwalkintoaconferenceroom.Itmeasures22.

Thepriestthinkshesstrategybutactuallyisthecustodianoftactics,curatingthe
repeatableprocessesthatseemtowork.Executioniswhatheworriesaboutbut
doesntdodirectly.Thatislefttotheoperationalfolkswhomhe
mislabelstacticians.

Thenerdkingthinkshisareaisdoctrine,deningthemission.Butyoucantdo
thatallthetime.Hisnaturalpositionisinstrategy,choosingwhenandwhereto
strikeatagivenmoment.Whenthechipsaredown,theshotclockisrunningout,
andtherearenomoregamblingandsportsmetaphorstoturnto,itstheexecutive
whomakesthecallaboutwhatstrategytopursue.

Thestrategyguruisneitherstrategicnoraguru.Hesadoctrineprophet,sparring
withthenerdkingwhilejugglingworlds.

Andofcourse,theoperationsgrumpisntevenintheroom.

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AboutCarlosBueno
CarlosBuenoisaRibbonfarmeditoratlarge.HeisaformerFacebook
engineer,graphicdesigner,videogamerepairman,andta ooartist.His
childrensnovelLaurenIpsumhasthecuriousdistinctionofhavingfeatured
inbothacademicreviewsoftheoreticalcomputerscienceandSchoolLibrary
Journal.

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5/9/2017 APriest,aGuru,andaNerdKingWalkIntoaConferenceRoom

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