Is it possible that the disconnect is that you‘re valuing technical ability over being good at people+management? Most high level executives don’t need to understand these things in detail, because they have other people they trust that do understand it.
Powerpoints need to be 5-word phrases because that’s how you should communicate with crowds. And it’s not simply about reducing complexity to the lowest common denominator (though that is part of it). It’s more about how getting any team of more than a few people to do anything at all together means getting them all on the same page. And simplicity increases the likelihood that everyone will have the same take-aways, and so have the same goal.
Two motivated intelligent individuals have some decently high chance of miscommunicating about meaningful topics — increase the number to 20 and now you‘re almost guaranteed it. Put it in a presentation where everyone’s only half listening and things are even worse.
Relatedly, Bill Gates’ article wasn’t that bad. Sure, there’s some inaccuracies if you’re reading it strictly. But it’s not meant to be read strictly. It’s basically marketing material aimed at a very large crowd, which, as discussed above, requires using phrasing that gets the point across, not phrasing that is scientifically accurate when dissected.
The whole point of capitalism is that the people who have and direct money are the ones who can make good decisions about how it should be used. When you see firsthand that high-level decision-making is a farce, where does that leave you?
Is a farce compared to what? It seems like you’re comparing capitalism to some ideal that has never actually been realized. And you can’t actually know if your ideal is feasible or even better in practice unless it’s been tried.
Relatedly, Bill Gates’ article wasn’t that bad. Sure, there’s some inaccuracies if you’re reading it strictly. But it’s not meant to be read strictly. It’s basically marketing material aimed at a very large crowd, which, as discussed above, requires using phrasing that gets the point across, not phrasing that is scientifically accurate when dissected.
There are inaccuracies in the article, period. It would be embarassing for an engineer to make the mistake of conflating Celsius and Kelvin when comparing boiling point ratios, as in the claim that sodium’s boiling point is 8x higher than that of water. Bill Gates’ audience is going to have a number of technically savvy people in it, he knows it, and this alone is a college freshman/high school-level mistake. There are others.
My update on reading the article is, in fact, to downgrade my perception of Bill Gates’ technical expertise beyond the world of computer software and hardware, and to trust his ability to communicate science less.
That said, nobody needs to be an expert in every subject, and it might be that Gates’ wealth and diverse interests and fame simply put him in a position to try and interpret areas of science he’s not able to understand adequately. He’s unusual for a billionaire founder/CEO figure, and I personally wouldn’t update too much on his mistake here as evidence about the ability of other CEOs to understand their company’s specific technology to a level of depth adequate to run the business well. But I would put some probability mass into “CEOs are, in general, shockingly bad at understanding the technologies and products their company sells and they also don’t have the ability to tell who in their company does understand what their company is selling.”
Most high level executives don’t need to understand these things in detail, because they have other people they trust that do understand it.
No, they don’t. They are unable to tell the difference between technical competence and BS. That’s why Elon’s companies are relatively successful despite his autism and mediocre understanding.
Is it possible that the disconnect is that you‘re valuing technical ability over being good at people+management?
US corporate executives are now selected largely for skill at “moral mazes” and I don’t think “being good at people+management” is an entirely accurate description of that. They’re good at dealing with similar people, who—being similar—are also not good at actually doing things.
Powerpoints need to be 5-word phrases because that’s how you should communicate with crowds.
Amazon banning Powerpoint worked out pretty well for it. Maybe all the theorizing about it actually being good was just justification.
But it’s not meant to be read strictly. It’s basically marketing material aimed at a very large crowd
I’d like to believe that, but no. It was not simplification for the common people. It was an accurate overview of how Bill Gates actually understands the technology involved and why he likes it.
It seems like you’re comparing capitalism to some ideal that has never actually been realized. And you can’t actually know if your ideal is feasible or even better in practice unless it’s been tried.
I’m not suggesting copying the Chinese government, but China is doing a better job at a lot of stuff than the USA now—the USA seems to be largely coasting on past success while institutional quality declines.
Is it possible that the disconnect is that you‘re valuing technical ability over being good at people+management? Most high level executives don’t need to understand these things in detail, because they have other people they trust that do understand it.
Powerpoints need to be 5-word phrases because that’s how you should communicate with crowds. And it’s not simply about reducing complexity to the lowest common denominator (though that is part of it). It’s more about how getting any team of more than a few people to do anything at all together means getting them all on the same page. And simplicity increases the likelihood that everyone will have the same take-aways, and so have the same goal.
Two motivated intelligent individuals have some decently high chance of miscommunicating about meaningful topics — increase the number to 20 and now you‘re almost guaranteed it. Put it in a presentation where everyone’s only half listening and things are even worse.
Relatedly, Bill Gates’ article wasn’t that bad. Sure, there’s some inaccuracies if you’re reading it strictly. But it’s not meant to be read strictly. It’s basically marketing material aimed at a very large crowd, which, as discussed above, requires using phrasing that gets the point across, not phrasing that is scientifically accurate when dissected.
Is a farce compared to what? It seems like you’re comparing capitalism to some ideal that has never actually been realized. And you can’t actually know if your ideal is feasible or even better in practice unless it’s been tried.
There are inaccuracies in the article, period. It would be embarassing for an engineer to make the mistake of conflating Celsius and Kelvin when comparing boiling point ratios, as in the claim that sodium’s boiling point is 8x higher than that of water. Bill Gates’ audience is going to have a number of technically savvy people in it, he knows it, and this alone is a college freshman/high school-level mistake. There are others.
My update on reading the article is, in fact, to downgrade my perception of Bill Gates’ technical expertise beyond the world of computer software and hardware, and to trust his ability to communicate science less.
That said, nobody needs to be an expert in every subject, and it might be that Gates’ wealth and diverse interests and fame simply put him in a position to try and interpret areas of science he’s not able to understand adequately. He’s unusual for a billionaire founder/CEO figure, and I personally wouldn’t update too much on his mistake here as evidence about the ability of other CEOs to understand their company’s specific technology to a level of depth adequate to run the business well. But I would put some probability mass into “CEOs are, in general, shockingly bad at understanding the technologies and products their company sells and they also don’t have the ability to tell who in their company does understand what their company is selling.”
No, they don’t. They are unable to tell the difference between technical competence and BS. That’s why Elon’s companies are relatively successful despite his autism and mediocre understanding.
US corporate executives are now selected largely for skill at “moral mazes” and I don’t think “being good at people+management” is an entirely accurate description of that. They’re good at dealing with similar people, who—being similar—are also not good at actually doing things.
Amazon banning Powerpoint worked out pretty well for it. Maybe all the theorizing about it actually being good was just justification.
I’d like to believe that, but no. It was not simplification for the common people. It was an accurate overview of how Bill Gates actually understands the technology involved and why he likes it.
I’m not suggesting copying the Chinese government, but China is doing a better job at a lot of stuff than the USA now—the USA seems to be largely coasting on past success while institutional quality declines.