I was just happily googling away, and decided to check on my good friend Pablo Averbuj… imagine my confusion when I found out there was another, with a partner called Leigha… My Pablo is an Argentine Jew, currently residing with his Aussie wife Sophia in Stuttgart. I just thought I’d say hi to you, his namesake, as he is such a good guy and sharing a name may mean sharing those good characteristics. Take care X

In other words, the right idea is not worth much if a business wonk can say “no, thanks, we’d rather fuck ourselves over.”

My first goal in these positions is to very clearly define what my responsibility and authority is. Where there is a divergence of the two, aim to divest yourself of the responsibility you have no authority to implement. Otherwise, it’s a waste of everyone’s time.

In general, business people will DTRT when forced to pay for the right solution. They don’t want to sabotage the company/mission/project, but they don’t want to be seen as the person who caves to rampant technologisation. So take that decision out of their hands, and instead let them work within a framework of good decisions. Later on, if you find you have a surplus of resources (let’s be frank, often choice 1 can lead to this), you can reapportion as necessary to other projects.

However, it’s a very dangerous place to be in, being the bearer of bad news (your square peg costs too much) and being overridden by people who fundamentally don’t understand the process or components (my square peg sure as hell *does* fit into that round hole). You’re both marginalized and portrayed as the bad guy. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where that leads.