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this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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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.