This is probably one of my all-time favorite anecdotes. Have shared it multiple times in the last year to "both" sides - tech insiders feeling misjudged and to angry critics.
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Whenever there's a large contentious issue between a large tech company and the outside world - journalists, analysts, etc - I'm reminded of this story of Daniel Ellsberg meeting Kissinger.pic.twitter.com/u2ihVJPg6e
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There are lessons for everyone here. For folks on the "inside" - it is a cautionary tale on how you can shut out outside perspective because of the unique data access you have. And how easy it is to go "If they knew what we knew, they wouldn't be saying what they are"
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For me personally, I try and dig up this story every few months as a forcing function to question assumptions.
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Man, I read this years ago and have hunted in vain for the quote a few times since. Thank you!
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Haha I went through the same process too. It took me many weeks to stumble upon the right set of search terms ( I only remembered that it involved Kissinger ).
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It is a *very* good one. One can argue both as an insider "if you know what I know" but also as an outsider "fine then, educate us and tell us what you know".
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exactly!! The challenge in current times I think is the structural inability (or unwillingness) to share the data or lessons.
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It is also very difficult to share and assume someone will walk away with the context as you "feel" it. A reporter once embedded in the new OneNote team and wrote a pretty negative view of the whole thing.
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there isn't really that much secret information within these tech companies that you can't guess as a well-informed outsider, most of what people miss is incentives and motivations
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Not true. I would say the sheer scale and intensity and nuance of certain phenomena would surprise you.
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Didn’t know about their connection. Here some detailshttps://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/vietnam-war-cambodia-ellsberg-pentagon-papers-kissinger/ …
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This all resonates except the part about becoming complicit in wanting to trick people. I think that’s not generally true and the excerpt is insightful and damning enough without it (re the dangers of becoming deaf and condescending about learning from non-insiders).
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Then comes a maverick, an outsider -- "uninformed" as they all are, having no access to this incredible info, "so much of it" -- and he or she disrupts the system or the institution that clearly did not see it coming. How come?
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If only critics could appreciate the complexities that social product teams have to wrestle with!
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This is a brilliantly valuable anecdote about leadership.
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Where was the quote from? If it was from a book, it sounds like it might be interesting to read as well.
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Fallout continues
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