Sub-Optimal Optimization

The real reason why enterprises can’t operate like startups

In an era when memes were not a thing, “wax on, wax off” was for me my first meme. All the kids had seen The Karate Kid and for weeks all you heard in school playgrounds were mini Karate Kid reenactments.

The idea of “wax on, wax off” was to develop mastery. By doing boring, repetitive chores, muscle memory developed. When Daniel-san finally reaches his breaking point, Miyagi tests Daniel-san, demonstrating that all the chores were core building blocks towards gaining essential karate skills.

This was my first lesson in optimization. Through a continuous cycle of repetition and learning from mistakes, you could become more efficient and effective. It reminds me of the egg sushi scene from Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It seems like borderline insanity, but in order to truly excel, it takes an immense amount of dedication.

It is common to hear enterprises talk about becoming fast like startups. There is a lot to admire about startup speed and execution ability when compared with how slow it can be to get things done in a large company. Lumbering and bureaucratic are words that are most often used when I speak to IT leaders in these organizations.

Tanya Reilly recently shared a story about organizational friction. We can all probably relate to what Tanya describes. I was helping…