One of the few tactics employed by Musk-Trump opponents so far that has had even a whiff of effectiveness has been the effort to turn the two against one another. I'm referring to things like the visa debate and the "President Musk" quips. Both of these have a "Boydian Razor" logic to them because they short circuit the partnership between the two. There is a strong tension between the two megalomaniacs that is currently being managed, but if there is a way to derail the current Trump-Musk train, pushing on their "Boydian Razor" failure points seems to be one approach with potential.
Thought provoking as always Venkatesh. I wonder where time fits into Boyd’s razor? In order to respect Boyd’s razor you have to have the patience to tolerate integrity and wait to see how things play out. Musk also seems to focus on shorter time horizons / rapid gratification over the last few years. I am still processing the ideas here but think time is an element that is critical here too..
Yes, there’s definitely a bit of a time penalty. Similar to bullshit moving faster than truth. Higher infant mortality, but also higher long-term impact.
Respecting Boyd's razor means your time horizon will be further out than that of your opponents who don't respect it. If you choose to respect it, you will probably have to have strategies to play "defense" to prevent your opponents from getting inside your OODA loop and disrupting your process. I agree that time is an important element here, though.
I'm not sure that's actually true. Sure, centralized decisions are faster than a process that seeks out feedback, but nothing in Boyd's law actually requires a full consultation with a committee as part of the decision process. Once you've selected for low-integrity leadership participants, they'll game the system in ways that breed cynicism, and not _every_ decision can be centralized. So a low-integrity decision making culture is going to be making crap decisions with people they don't trust, and when they go to a committee for whatever reason the gamesmanship can get even _more_ painful.
Going back to the Amazon culture discussion, reversible decisions can be made quickly, at low levels, by people who have the trust of their leaders. irreversible decisions should be quickly escalated.
The most effective senior management I've seen find a way to do both. Play the game of rapid, fast iteration when needed, and deliberate thoroughness when appropriate. Making the right choice of each per project, and putting people that are temperamentally disposed to one or other in place to run it is an executive super-power.
Starting to think about parallels between Silicon Valley and the history of post-Civil-War railroads, especially the kind of bluff, we-can-do-anything provincialism that didn't fare so well when it butted heads with the East Coast establishment.
Came here looking for a place to report a namecheck in the Jim Rutt show with Jordan Hall. Took quite a bit of gritting my teeth to get through this 'sensemaking' conversation but overall was worth it.
The acquisition [Twitter] is a financial disaster. — isn’t this plainly not true? Debt is being valued at near par value and while revenue is down, margins are much higher, and net income is also increasing. Find it odd that this example is being used as a sort of crux for why Elon will fail at doge.
And a hugely valuable and important pluralist cultural institution, a veritable Library of Alexandria, got tagged as a stronghold of a manufactured “woke” adversary and burned down. — I mean JFC, old twitter was fine but every four years was being used as a massive influence peddling operation by democrats. Not exactly non partisan
Elon himself seems to believe he’s been equally successful at all three (if not in his smaller, more obviously speculative ventures). That his is an infallible Midas touch. — However Elon feels about Twitter/X today, there was clearly trepidation there when he acquired it, so I don’t see how this squares the characterization of him feeling like he has an infallible Midas touch.
One of the few tactics employed by Musk-Trump opponents so far that has had even a whiff of effectiveness has been the effort to turn the two against one another. I'm referring to things like the visa debate and the "President Musk" quips. Both of these have a "Boydian Razor" logic to them because they short circuit the partnership between the two. There is a strong tension between the two megalomaniacs that is currently being managed, but if there is a way to derail the current Trump-Musk train, pushing on their "Boydian Razor" failure points seems to be one approach with potential.
Thought provoking as always Venkatesh. I wonder where time fits into Boyd’s razor? In order to respect Boyd’s razor you have to have the patience to tolerate integrity and wait to see how things play out. Musk also seems to focus on shorter time horizons / rapid gratification over the last few years. I am still processing the ideas here but think time is an element that is critical here too..
Yes, there’s definitely a bit of a time penalty. Similar to bullshit moving faster than truth. Higher infant mortality, but also higher long-term impact.
Respecting Boyd's razor means your time horizon will be further out than that of your opponents who don't respect it. If you choose to respect it, you will probably have to have strategies to play "defense" to prevent your opponents from getting inside your OODA loop and disrupting your process. I agree that time is an important element here, though.
I'm not sure that's actually true. Sure, centralized decisions are faster than a process that seeks out feedback, but nothing in Boyd's law actually requires a full consultation with a committee as part of the decision process. Once you've selected for low-integrity leadership participants, they'll game the system in ways that breed cynicism, and not _every_ decision can be centralized. So a low-integrity decision making culture is going to be making crap decisions with people they don't trust, and when they go to a committee for whatever reason the gamesmanship can get even _more_ painful.
Going back to the Amazon culture discussion, reversible decisions can be made quickly, at low levels, by people who have the trust of their leaders. irreversible decisions should be quickly escalated.
The most effective senior management I've seen find a way to do both. Play the game of rapid, fast iteration when needed, and deliberate thoroughness when appropriate. Making the right choice of each per project, and putting people that are temperamentally disposed to one or other in place to run it is an executive super-power.
Starting to think about parallels between Silicon Valley and the history of post-Civil-War railroads, especially the kind of bluff, we-can-do-anything provincialism that didn't fare so well when it butted heads with the East Coast establishment.
Nice.
Came here looking for a place to report a namecheck in the Jim Rutt show with Jordan Hall. Took quite a bit of gritting my teeth to get through this 'sensemaking' conversation but overall was worth it.
https://www.jimruttshow.com/jordan-hall-4/
https://jimruttshow.blubrry.net/the-jim-rutt-show-transcripts/transcript-of-ep-284-jordan-hall-on-ai-the-commons-and-the-church/
The acquisition [Twitter] is a financial disaster. — isn’t this plainly not true? Debt is being valued at near par value and while revenue is down, margins are much higher, and net income is also increasing. Find it odd that this example is being used as a sort of crux for why Elon will fail at doge.
We have very different definitions of what a successful PE turnaround looks like.
And a hugely valuable and important pluralist cultural institution, a veritable Library of Alexandria, got tagged as a stronghold of a manufactured “woke” adversary and burned down. — I mean JFC, old twitter was fine but every four years was being used as a massive influence peddling operation by democrats. Not exactly non partisan
Elon himself seems to believe he’s been equally successful at all three (if not in his smaller, more obviously speculative ventures). That his is an infallible Midas touch. — However Elon feels about Twitter/X today, there was clearly trepidation there when he acquired it, so I don’t see how this squares the characterization of him feeling like he has an infallible Midas touch.
Right on schedule, lol https://x.com/benjamindekr/status/1889526713735905502?s=46&t=MxjKGZ0xcO_edQX0W4Soig
this is one of my new alltime VR favorites 🤝