The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

by Alexander C. Karp

The instinct toward obedience can be lethal to an attempt to construct a disruptive organization, from a political movement to an artistic school to a technology startup. At many of the most successful technology giants in Silicon Valley, there is a culture of what one might call constructive disobedience. The creative direction that an organization’s most senior leaders provide is internalized but often reshaped, adjusted, and challenged by those charged with executing on their directives in order to produce something even more consequential. A certain antagonism within an organization is vital if it is to build something substantial. An outright dereliction of duty might simply hold an organization back. But the unquestioning implementation of orders from higher up is just as dangerous to an institution’s long-term survival. The challenge for businesses is that executives and managers far too often select for and reward an unthinking compliance in those they hire—a simpleminded obedience that is corrosive to building a business capable of something more than execution on the whims of a founder.