Business and suspension of disbelief

categories: idea

Corporate life and suspension of disbelief

What can we learn from suspension of disbelief, PowerPoint Karaoke and Conway's law for a more productive corporate/private life.

The PowerPoint Karaoke of business

The only rule in a Powerpoint Karaoke is for the show person to never retreat from a clain and own all the statments made.

• Similarly the business world be it in big business or in startup has turned more into being convincing when presenting than value creation.
• The underlying principle in action is that actors (the ones presenting) or spectators are entering a state of Suspension of Disbelief where consitency across all presentations trumps verification.
• Which leaves no place for constructive criticism (except still in deep technical organisation) especially when it comes to verify business assumptions.

Differences

• In business another rule is to stick to the branch or industry Buzzword Bingo semantics.
• Startup will also oscillate between obsession and failure whereas impro theater will focus on the flow and public feedback.
• Camel start-up stand-out when it comes to business (corporate or unicorn startups) as focus on customer income is key

Moving to the Aikido of Conway

Instead of fighting the corporate business, identify its strength and use them for your work/life balance.

• Given that any organisation will deliver products and service matching its internal organisation as per the Conway's Law
• Align internal structure with customer need to ensure delivery are aligned with needs.
• One must not seek to fight it but like in aikido unify this energy in a Aikido of Conway best examplifies lately by RenDanHeYi (人单合一) from Hayer's CEO (Zhang Ruimin - 张瑞敏). See below in transcripts key insights from Zhang Ruimin.