{"id":652,"date":"2006-02-21T23:48:23","date_gmt":"2006-02-22T03:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blogtest\/2006\/02\/21\/we-should-be-glad-that-big-organiza"},"modified":"2006-02-21T23:48:23","modified_gmt":"2006-02-22T03:48:23","slug":"we-should-be-glad-that-big-organizations-cant-handle-people-like-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2006\/02\/21\/we-should-be-glad-that-big-organizations-cant-handle-people-like-la\/","title":{"rendered":"We should be glad that big organizations can’t handle people like Larry Summers"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

The departure of Larry Summers from Harvard should encourage us all to spend a moment giving thanks that big organizations are generally commanded by bland, uncreative, risk-averse folks.  If big universities were typically home to hard-charging, plain-speaking, creative men and women like Larry Summers, new and small schools such as University of Phoenix would never stand a chance.  The same goes for big corporations.  The only thing that saves entrepreneurs from irrelevance is the fact that so many steady and boring executives clog the hallways at the Fortune 500.<\/P>
\n

Why are people near the top of big organizations typically so risk-averse?  They’ve got a lot to lose.  If you’re making a big salary, enjoy big prestige, and have all the perks, you want to make sure above all that you don’t blow it by taking a risk.  This is why most stock mutual funds don’t perform that differently from the S&P 500; the managers want to make sure that they don’t do so poorly that they get fired or that investors make substantial withdrawals.  They won’t place big bets, even ones that they think are very likely to succeed, because any big bet entails some risk of dramatic underperformance relative to the index and therefore the end of the personal gravy train.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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