Gervais Principle does not have a suggestion for change, as Rao doesn’t believe in such things, but there is a clear message: If you have to choose, Be A Loser.
FWIW reading between the lines, I’d say Rao’s belief is “If you have to choose, be a sociopath.”
And when I read it, my clear takeaway was actually to be a clueless—the only one that believed in organizations that could make a difference, and lived that value.
Of course, one of the problem’s with Rao’s account that I later realized(that I think Zvi’s sequence shares to some degree) is that it doesn’t distinguish between Kegan 4.5 Sociopaths, and Kegan 5 leaders. This creates the impossible choice between having freedom as a loser, meaning as a clueless, or influence as as a sociopath, pick one.
Similarly, Zvi’s sequence gives the choice of truth as a simulacra 1, belonging as Simulacra 2, and influence as Simulacra 4.
Neither framing admits that it’s possible to get to a stage of leadership in which you can fluidly cycle between variations of the 3 modes.
FWIW reading between the lines, I’d say Rao’s belief is “If you have to choose, be a sociopath.”
I think that’s also what many readers concluded.
And when I read it, my clear takeaway was actually to be a clueless—the only one that believed in organizations that could make a difference, and lived that value.
Of course, one of the problem’s with Rao’s account that I later realized(that I think Zvi’s sequence shares to some degree) is that it doesn’t distinguish between Kegan 4.5 Sociopaths, and Kegan 5 leaders. This creates the impossible choice between having freedom as a loser, meaning as a clueless, or influence as as a sociopath, pick one.
Similarly, Zvi’s sequence gives the choice of truth as a simulacra 1, belonging as Simulacra 2, and influence as Simulacra 4.
Neither framing admits that it’s possible to get to a stage of leadership in which you can fluidly cycle between variations of the 3 modes.
BTW this is bolstered by Rao’s other work, like his longstanding newsletter called “Be Slightly Evil”.