Middle Management

i have been thinking about a common issue that plagues organizations (communities, companies, governments). in a vacuum, everyone believes a shared vision is important. in practice, the tolerance for pressure over speedy decisions is lower than that for the time (cost) required to reach consensus— this is a limit to growth.

the benefits of a shared vision is delayed, whereas its costs show up very quickly. managing this limit to growth is a matter of time/delay management

mitigation hypothesis:
- shift mental model: neutralize preference for speed by setting expectations for time required for benefits to emerge
- buffer costs: refine consensus process to reduce resources required
- celebrate early signals: highlight small wins that are logical milestones towards ultimate goal before this goal fully materializes

janitor@ /middle-mgmt and /dxterminal // inquiring in /inquiry // web3 law stuff // f̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶R̶o̶s̶s̶ // free Assange // ☮︎ Ξ ✧

lovelight.eth.limo

I think the assumption that the mechanism for shared vision is consensus isn’t necessarily true. Elite military unit is an easy counter example as is “disagree but commit”

Building /streme. Wanna be the very best. ゼニゼニ

It’s a good point.  Consensus tends to get overused especially in this space.

The trick is knowing when to use consensus versus consent.  Consensus is necessarily slower than consent-based decision making.  Only use it when you really need everyone’s buy in.