Coordination Headwind - How Organizations Are Like Slime Molds

kept by quentinc aug 30

The presentation argues that organizational dysfunction emerges from coordination headwinds and emergent group behavior, even when individual employees act rationally.

The Coddling of the Tech Mind - by Nikunj Kothari
Many tech employees working at large companies lose agency and ownership because the supportive systems (1:1s, free food, OKRs) designed for earlier eras have become entitlements instead of tools.
also on Andy Grove, Google, #business-strategy
This is an email I sent earlier today to all employees at Coinbase: Team, Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coi
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong lays off 14% of staff, citing crypto market downturn and AI productivity gains, restructuring with no pure managers and AI-native pods.
also on Coinbase, #leadership, #business-strategy
Tokenmaxxing, Promomaxxing, and Misaligned Incentives in Tech
Measuring AI token usage as a productivity metric backfires via Goodhart's Law, with Meta engineers gaming a token leaderboard by burning tokens wastefully.
also on Coinbase, Google
Why So Many C.E.O.s Are Getting a Chief of Staff
CEOs are increasingly hiring Chiefs of Staff as trusted sounding boards to manage rising business complexity, driven by both genuine need and bureaucratic trend-chasing.
also on #organizational-health, #leadership, #business-strategy
Ask for no, don't ask for yes (2022)
Rather than asking for permission, offer colleagues a deadline to veto your planned action, which reduces their cognitive load and keeps projects moving.
also on #organizational-health, #leadership