The Hagakure #77: The Greatest Trick The Devil Ever Pulled

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world it’s either people or profit.

You don’t think so?

Then how come we nod in agreement when someone says building relationships and trust is so important... and then there is so little of it that’s intentionally done?

How come job interviews are so much about technical skills... and so little about getting to really know the person across the table?

How come most HR systems are all about boiling people down to a number that fits a spreadsheet... and forcing everyone to conform to the same template?

Nobody denies the quest for profit. That’s fine. But these examples (of which there are many more) show it's definitely not about the people.

Why is that?

Deep down, in the “collective unconscious” of leadership and management in technology, success is not ultimately rooted in people being their best selves, but rather in:

• The brilliance of a few, who are supposed to know better, be “smarter”, “strategize”, and have the best ideas.

• The compliance of the many, who are supposed to execute, factory-like, and ask as few questions as possible.

The sad part?

Most people don’t even want to be this way. It’s not intentional. They would do better if they could and/or would know how.

The good news?

Knowledge—of psychology, how the brain works, complexity, etc—is abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.