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Comment by sillysaurusx | Hacker News Reader

Empty platitudes. I wonder why people find them so comforting or interesting.

I like a good quote too, but there’s not much substance here. “Doing the right things”? Everyone feels they’re doing the right things, generally. In fact it’s very difficult to convince anyone to do anything differently.

In fact, to analyze this a bit deeper, what’s the point of the quote at all? Doing the right things is completely separable from doing things right. It’s like pointing out that the sun is warm and oceans are blue. It just doesn’t feel like there’s anything here.

I bet some number of people on HN work in adtech, and that a different number feel they’re doing the wrong thing. What’s the takeaway?

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I think the idea is that "Doing things right" is doing things the way they are supposed to be done. I think of the HBO show Rome where Pompey is moaning to other characters about how all his actions in battle were "perfectly correct" and he couldn't believe he had been defeated despite what was perfectly correct.

Managers, nominal leaders, in other words, focus on doing what they perceive they are supposed to do. Contrast that with true leaders who focus on doing what actually matters - i.e. the right things.

If you are interested in results, you have to pursue what actually matters and not just what conventional wisdom says, or what people say. You also have to be willing to risk "doing things wrong".

Maybe that's a platitude. Maybe it's a useful heuristic for some people to ask "Am I trying to do the right thing, or am I trying to do things right?" Probably depends on what your prior beliefs and attitudes are.

>Everyone feels they’re doing the right things

In addition to what others have said, I don’t think this is true enough to be a generalization. I’m reminded of a radio conversation with a derivatives trader after the financial crisis over a decade ago. They said they knew what they were doing was wrong (in the sense of being shoddy and unsustainable) but that it wasn’t worth the risk of sticking their head up to sound the alarm. It’s much safer to just try to ride the wave with everyone else.

Likewise I’ve worked with plenty who knowingly kept along the easy path when they knew it wasn’t the best for the organization. But it was easy and safe. Instead of following the cliche “nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM” they would have been a better leader if they followed the military aphorism of “taking the harder right” decision.

> I like a good quote too, but there’s not much substance here. [...]

I agree with you here, there's no substance to this kind of thought process. It's too generic and, ultimately, self-validating since one can't ensure what one does is leadership worthy since there isn't a final definition for what that means.

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Some have already mentioned it but the quote seems to make an unfortunate use of the word "right" which leaves a lot of room for interpretation. That might even be the reason people find it appealing.

Doing the right things === What we are doing;

Doing things right === How we are doing what we are doing

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