> spent the last decade going out of its way to recruit the most intelligent, innovative, talented people on Earth, telling them to sit at a desk and do what they’re told obliterates 99 percent of their value.

Well that hits close to home. I wonder why every other mega successful company thinks the opposite.

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monkeyelite 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Because being smart and talented is not the same skill as being self managing. Good structure helps people use the skills they are good at.

And because self managing people do not automatically organize to achieve the same goals.

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jajko 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> Good structure helps people use the skills they are good at.

That's extremely rare and even in overall success stories you will find plenty of unhappy folks.

But as a general excuse for some micro-management-obsessed middle manager with 0 trust into anybody else its good enough excuse I suppose.

	▲	monkeyelite 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Your management is so effective you are not even aware of the structure around you! there is a place you come to ready with goals and tasks, and those tasks are prepared for you to apply your engineering skill (other departments will apply their skills separately and be added to yours). And there are ways to communicate if you need resources or support. Think about how common it is for someone to be effective at work and totally confused and aimless in their personal life. They might have trouble sticking to projects, or not know what goals are worthwhile, or make bad decisions - all while performing great at work. I am an IC at the lowest rung of any org chart with no aspirations to change that.

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tikhonj 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean, you can provide support and structure without imposing it or telling people what to do. People who need the structure can rely on it; people who don't can work their own way.

Top-down, controlling management vs unstructured chaos is a completely false dichotomy.

	▲	monkeyelite 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		Of course. Part of management is carrots, sticks, and boundaries.

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SXX 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Mega successful companies dont think that way. They very often buy startups or just asquihire teams to kill competition before it become dangerous to them.