For me, survival in Silicon Valley is often like being a cheetah. Not the zoo type that gets fed every day at 4 pm but the ones on the plains of the Serengeti. The ones that have to hunt for their own food.
It is being fast, agile and adaptable.
It is realizing that two out of three times, when you bring down prey, hyenas, jackals or lions will chase you off and eat your kill.
It is realizing that when you make a kill, you did it on your own. For a brief time you don't owe anything to another creature except the one you killed. It is the fiercest type of independence.
Today, the strange thing happened. One of our chiefs, a VP, had a heart attack in an European Airport. He went down at the ticket counter. Luckily several doctors were nearby but they had to defib him twice to get his heart going again. Tomorrow he have a bypass (or is it already tomorrow there?)
At work, a gap in leadership has formed, yawning wide open so I can see it's ugly throat. The sub-chiefs, the next line, are stepping up and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will help but he will not lead. He can't stand the pressure. Easier to stand off a bit and criticize. I am not blaming him. He sees the problems well enough but he won't fill that gap.
It is there waiting.
Is is sizable and sustainable? It is the one in three or the other two?
Lawrence in the desert. 1916. Wadi Hafra.
"How do you like our place?" the tall pillar-like man asks.
Well, but it is far from Damascus.
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