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Comment by fragmede | Hacker News Reader

I think being the founder of Google gives him more political capital at Google than anything on paper. As a controlling member of the board there's a variety of things he can do with that hammer, but just simply being who he is, not even just on the org chart, has got to be worth way more.

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The very fact that he (or anyone in a similar position) holds the hammer is enough to guarantee that he will very seldom have to swing it.

The ghost of Steve Jobs would like a word with you.

Are you referring to his firing in the 80s? That was because he was supposedly a jerk at the time and no one wanted to deal with him.

this seems an idealistic view, my cynical view is that if King Lear gives up all his legal paper power he will find out nobody cares who the hell he is and take advantage of him without remorse.

In my experience (at a much smaller scale than these guys, of course) the legal papers power is more of a formality. It’s the soft power tied up in knowledge, relationships, trust and goodwill that really count.

Right up until the point that the person with the legal power yanks the rug from under you.

That’s when you find out if the soft power you’ve accrued is sufficient.

Nope. That's when you find out that hard power beats soft power when the two come into conflict.

Doesn't mean soft power isn't important, because most of the time there isn't such a hard conflict. Well, hopefully.

Looking at the two as separate parts ends up forcing the dance apart from the dancer no

What you describe is a benevolent dictator.

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