Silicon Valley’s greatest export is no particular technology. Quite the opposite, it is in fact a New Way of Doing Things, a management style: The Silicon Valley Management Style (SVMS). SVMS can be contrasted against MKMS (McKinsey Management Style) that dominated the previous wave of Globalization.
Silicon Valley Management Style (SVMS)
“Software Way of Doing Things”
Develop product alongside the business
Find product-market fit and then iterate rapidly
Horizontal organization structure
Hire only the very best
Software Generalists can eat not only large number of technical problems but also management problems
Very high autonomy
Equity compensation
Aesthetics
Open office space
No dress code
Finance
Growth, long-innovation
Backed by Venture Capitalists like Marc Andreessen
Companies using SVMS
Google
Facebook
McKinsey Management Style (MKMS)
“Powerpoint Way of Doing Things”
Business is number one, product takes orders from account managers
Product developed long time ago, find novel ways to sell to more people
Vertical organization structure
Low autonomy
No equity compensation
More specialists, more MBAs or people who specialize in “business management”
High quality management, low quality rank and file
Aesthetics
Cubicles
Suits and Ties
Finance
Defending or extending existing position, short innovation
Backed by “Value Investors” like Warren Buffett
Companies using MKMS
Procter and Gamble
The Coca-Cola Company
Why SVMS Now?
There is a macro reason for why SVMS is winning right now: the fact that the gains from the previous wave of Globalization are fading away. It is no longer possible, for example, to double your income by expanding into a Developing Country. All the Developing Countries that were penetrable already have been. Every toothbrush you buy anywhere in the world is already either made by Unilever or Procter and Gamble.
And other countries are now developing rapidly and competing on Developed Country standards. Therefore the only thing remaining to do right now is to create more wealth using technology, since war is no longer viable. SVMS optimizes for intensive growth: going from 0-1, doing more with less, creating new capabilities. On the other hand, MKMS optimizes for extensive growth: going from 1-n, copying things that work, scaling things that are already proven.
Thanks to Brian Schimpf for helping develop some of these ideas.
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Straussian Great Illusion!