A few weeks ago I said something in a meeting and afterwards, I was talking about it with The Executive. He asked me “Did you have a reason for saying that other than proving you knew more than [name]?” The honest answer was that I didn’t. I’m normally pretty good with stuff like that. It wasn’t so much a strategic problem as much as it said something I didn’t like about me as a person.

You don’t want to be the person that has no control over how they act. You certainly don’t want to be the person that isn’t even aware of the fact that they’re not in control. Sitting in meetings in Hollywood, you can see that most people are horribly guilty of this. That’s why they name drop, make ridiculous predictions, and scream at their assistants. They just get away with it because they only deal with their own kind.

Hollywood’s biggest problem isn’t structural or economic, it’s cultural. People are sickeningly oblivious and insecure and just generally awful. The emails I’ve been cc’d on make me want apologize on other’s behalf. And it’s not that they’re evil or malicious, they’re just insulated. It was always a seller’s market. But it’s not anymore and the internet has permanently shifted that power. It’s over.

So more than anything, I’m trying to to figure out what my actions say about me as a person. They either match who I want to be or I shouldn’t be doing them. That involves asking a couple questions – always Why? What for? and What Happens if I Don’t?

It’s not just that it ineffective. There is a reason that things are getting worse daily. The final question is that if it were effective – if there monetary incentives for being an asshole and for being uninformed – would it be worth it?

I worked late last night at somebody’s mansion. A big, 20’s style house on a hill with 360 degree views of the city. And even though he’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the owner spent most of the night pacing frantically, trying to find the right words for exactly what he wanted to say.

“After a few months practice, David lamented to his teacher, “but I can hear the music so much better in my head than I can get out of my fingers.” To which the Master replied “What makes you think that will ever change?” – Art & Fear

I am starting to think that maybe greatness comes not from transcending that disparity but from embracing and accepting it. Running wasn’t any easier yesterday than last April. I was still way more excited about the ‘idea’ of it than actually going out and doing it. It took 4 discarded posts until I fell into this one. I’m not still quite there yet either.

He eventually got it, or at least close enough to be satisfied. Then we moved onto the next thing and started the process over again early this morning.

The difference between he and I, I think, is that he’s spent the last decade well aware of the fact that it’ll always look better in his head than when it comes out of the factory. But that hasn’t changed him at all. That doesn’t stop the factory. I’m sure it kills him when something doesn’t come out perfect or he just can’t get it right. If we want to talk about Turning Pro, maybe the real mark is someone who understands the odds and does it anyway.

From The Nature of the Firm

A firm will tend to expand until the costs of organizing an extra transaction within the firm become equal to the costs of carrying out the same transaction by means of an exchange on the open market or the costs of organizing in another firm.

What we’re talking about today is not marginal fluctuations in transaction costs but almost a complete collapse. That’s why a terrorist group that has made almost no effort to organize can function at least comparably to the most powerful army in the world. Or blog can sell more books a month than a medium sized bookstore as a secondary revenue stream.

I can’t really tell you what it is that I do because I don’t have job descriptions. I’m not even formally employed by two of the people I work for – if I was it would create more problems that it would solve. Which is why the idea of hustling is so important. You have to be able to function independently or you’re not worth anything. So the whole notion of scalability is being turned on its head because what you do might not need to be scaled – you might be enough.

But that takes time, effort and constant experimentation.

Other reading:

The Rule of Five – John Robb (blog post)

Dreaming 5th Generation Warfare (blog)

RMMB: John Boyd 2.0 (discussion)

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations – Clay Shirky

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations – Ori Brafman

Charlie Wilson’s War: How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times – George Crile

The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source – Eric S Raymond