I’m worried that Gaben isn’t immortal and he’ll eventually die/retire/sell etc, and the people in his footsteps won’t share his vision. Throughout history this has been an often repeated story.
Is Gabe really that irreplaceable? The way he runs the company (flat-hierarchy), it’s mostly self-governing – the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible. A like-minded successor or even governing council could probably quite effectively handle things in Gabe’s absence.
Well… regardless of that: nothing lasts forever, but that’s no reason to assume that things will change for the worse. Gabe seems to put a lot of deliberate thought into his actions, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he has already taken care of preparing for a smooth and faithful transition away from his leadership when the time comes. Who knows, maybe they’ll even do a better job than Gabe could?
The way he runs the company (flat-hierarchy), it’s mostly self-governing
Is it really? Or is it a dictatorship under Gabe, but he’s a benevolent dictator who very rarely uses his dictatorial powers? Are there any influential people at Valve who don’t share his vision? Or is he using his power to softly, maybe even unconsciously, ensure that everyone influential sees eye-to-eye with him?
Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. I like Valve and I like its leadership. But, I don’t think there’s any chance it would survive his death or his stepping down.
To be clear, by using the term “flat-hierarchy” I was indeed suggesting a situation that’s exactly as you say: a company ruled under an iron first used sparingly – ergo “the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible.”
We can of course only speculate as to the soft power dynamics at play, although we can be certain that a soft-power dynamic does exist. I even agree with you when you state that this dynamic is unique to Gabe’s specific personality and individual mannerisms and not something which can exist without him. Where we seem to differ, however, is in our opinion of how important Gabe’s special flavor of soft power really is – is it the secret sauce or nothing special?
I argue that it’s nothing special. Given the right hand-picked successor, I foresee an uneventful transition and not a catastrophy. Some things will get easier and some things will get harder, but I think the overall structure and mission of the company will ensure a certain measure of continuity. If anything, I’m actually optimistic; the mere presence of a new leader will help change internal perceptions of what’s possible and help bring about some exciting new ideas.
I disagree given that as far as I know, Valve is the only company in the world that operates this way. I’ve worked plenty of places where the leadership talked about not having a hierarchy, but none of them could actually pull it off. When push came to shove, there were always bosses and those bosses had bosses, and decisions flowed down from the top. There are probably small communes where they’re able to make decisions using consensus, but Valve is a 1000 person company that’s a key player in a major industry.
This is my fear too. No doubt there are great people working at Valve, but Gabe is responsible for how customer first the company is. I too worry that Valve will fall when he’s gone.
I think Microsoft’s valuation is woefully underestimated
Also GabeN would have to agree to sell it, it’s not really up to anyone else (and I don’t think he’s really interested)
@dlove67
Honestly considering his history with Microsoft he probably had a good laugh when he found out they wanted to buy Valve
@highduc
I’m worried that Gaben isn’t immortal and he’ll eventually die/retire/sell etc, and the people in his footsteps won’t share his vision. Throughout history this has been an often repeated story.
Is Gabe really that irreplaceable? The way he runs the company (flat-hierarchy), it’s mostly self-governing – the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible. A like-minded successor or even governing council could probably quite effectively handle things in Gabe’s absence.
Well… regardless of that: nothing lasts forever, but that’s no reason to assume that things will change for the worse. Gabe seems to put a lot of deliberate thought into his actions, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he has already taken care of preparing for a smooth and faithful transition away from his leadership when the time comes. Who knows, maybe they’ll even do a better job than Gabe could?
Is it really? Or is it a dictatorship under Gabe, but he’s a benevolent dictator who very rarely uses his dictatorial powers? Are there any influential people at Valve who don’t share his vision? Or is he using his power to softly, maybe even unconsciously, ensure that everyone influential sees eye-to-eye with him?
Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. I like Valve and I like its leadership. But, I don’t think there’s any chance it would survive his death or his stepping down.
To be clear, by using the term “flat-hierarchy” I was indeed suggesting a situation that’s exactly as you say: a company ruled under an iron first used sparingly – ergo “the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible.”
We can of course only speculate as to the soft power dynamics at play, although we can be certain that a soft-power dynamic does exist. I even agree with you when you state that this dynamic is unique to Gabe’s specific personality and individual mannerisms and not something which can exist without him. Where we seem to differ, however, is in our opinion of how important Gabe’s special flavor of soft power really is – is it the secret sauce or nothing special?
I argue that it’s nothing special. Given the right hand-picked successor, I foresee an uneventful transition and not a catastrophy. Some things will get easier and some things will get harder, but I think the overall structure and mission of the company will ensure a certain measure of continuity. If anything, I’m actually optimistic; the mere presence of a new leader will help change internal perceptions of what’s possible and help bring about some exciting new ideas.
I disagree given that as far as I know, Valve is the only company in the world that operates this way. I’ve worked plenty of places where the leadership talked about not having a hierarchy, but none of them could actually pull it off. When push came to shove, there were always bosses and those bosses had bosses, and decisions flowed down from the top. There are probably small communes where they’re able to make decisions using consensus, but Valve is a 1000 person company that’s a key player in a major industry.
I think on top of this, it’s probably safe to say there is already a plan set up to pass to someone Gabe trusts considering the hierarchy
This is my fear too. No doubt there are great people working at Valve, but Gabe is responsible for how customer first the company is. I too worry that Valve will fall when he’s gone.