I’m excited to announce a new podcast series: Second Order.
Second Order podcast brings esoteric insights from old/anti-mainstream books and papers to help improve the effectiveness of managers and executives.
The podcast will discuss new books too - but only the ones that translate the old insights into contemporary lingo and/or move the old works forward in a significant way.
For every book/paper, I’ll create a short-form video, a ~5-minute video podcast, a blog post, and a presentation that captures some of the key insights. As someone who has spent the last two decades as a manager and executive in technology organizations, I’ll pick the insights that resonate most with me (while staying mindful of my own role as the observer).
The presentation (and additional artifacts depending on the book/paper) will be exclusive to paid subscribers.
I look forward to the second order outcomes of what you do with these insights!
Why this book: Success Breeds Bureaucracy!
Yes, this is pretty much the story of every successful Silicon Valley company. This is what Eric Yuan, the founder of Zoom, faced. He moved to the US and joined Webex, a web conferencing startup, where he led the engineering team. Webex was later acquired by Cisco.
Eric had a vision of a video conferencing system that would work seamlessly on smartphones. He pitched his idea to Cisco, its executives did not see the potential and turned him down.
That was a costly mistake for Cisco, because Eric Yuan left the company and founded Zoom Video Communications and the rest, as they say, is history.
This is the pattern… But it doesn’t stop there.
I've spoken with numerous entrepreneurs over the years who previously worked in corporate settings and felt stifled by the inability to execute ideas and bring innovative concepts to market. For many, this bureaucratic environment was a significant catalyst for their decision to pursue entrepreneurship in the first place.
But the irony is that IF they are successful, their own business ends up creating the same “unaccountability machine” for their employees - a bureaucracy that’s hostile to creativity, innovation and any tangible change to the status quo.
I don’t know the level of bureaucracy in Zoom now, but I’m willing to bet that Eric created the same bureaucracy he ran away from. Only Zoom’s employees can confirm.
“Two-Face was right. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!.
Who is this for?
This is meant for individual contributors, mid-level managers and executives looking to get things done in a bureaucratic organization.
Yes, AI can speed up coding. But the reviews and approvals from Legal, Privacy, Cybersecurity, Compliance, and other silos are still death by a thousand paper cuts.
AI-driven efficiency measures is also resulting in layoffs - the ones that survive and thrive will be the ones that are effective in getting things done.
Hope this podcast/blogpost inspires you to buy the book and roll up your sleeves to get things done with a new worldview and approach. Let’s go!