Talks to Watch

MindSpring Presents: "Greatness" by David Marquet

2.7M views · Oct 8, 2013 · 9:41 · 2 HN recommenders · 3 mentions · discussed 2017–2019

An animated adaptation of Captain David Marquet's talk on greatness, based on his book Turn the Ship Around!. It argues for pushing decision-making down to the people doing the work instead of controlling everything from the top.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters cite it as a compact illustration of empowered, decentralized leadership, for founders and for managers who try to control everything.

“Watch this: as a jumpstart to getting your org ready for life without you”HN comment, 2017

What Hacker News said 3

Recommendsendlessvoid94May 2017

“Watch this: as a jumpstart to getting your org ready for life without you”

Prepares an org to run without its founder via empowered leadership.

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How big is the company? You're right to identify this as a hard problem. I've been in your exact shoes before. 100+ person company, the weight is heavy. The good news is that it's totally possible to get out without wrecking the company's outlook. But it does take a minor amount of time investment. Perhaps it's possible to view it as a new challenge: how to quickly hire or find someone within your org who is capable of taking over your day-to-day responsibilities? Who do people ask for decisions / advice when you're out sick? Frame it as a promotion for them. Give them a (small) comp bump and a new set of responsibilities that include most (or all) of your existing responsibilities. Coach them for a quarter, give them enough rope to hang themselves with, give them radically candid feedback, and then you can step away. (Or even go do something else interesting at the company!) I can go into a lot more detail if you'd like -- please email me. The username in my profile (not my HN handle) at gmail. Good luck, positive vibes! P.S. Watch this: this video as a jumpstart to getting your org ready for life without you

in “Ask HN: I don't want to be a founder anymore” · view on HN
RecommendshnrodeyDec 2017

“The value is in the audio but the animation is entertaining.”

Animated talk on management; the audio carries the value.

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> managers aren't able to keep up and so might find themselves in a position where when they first started managing they were an expert.... Reminds me of this. The value is in the audio but the animation is entertaining. this video

in “Steve Jobs on how to hire, manage, and lead people [video]” · view on HN
Cites itConfusedDogJun 2019

“This is the same idea in the Greatness video by David Marquet”

Makes the case that trying to control everything is futile.

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I entirely agree with you. This is the same idea in the Greatness video by David Marquet ( this video ) Try to control everything is just futile. I think hiring and retaining best people is the best countermeasure to this sort of things.

in “When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved” · view on HN