Director’s Fallacy

We have spent years trying to become more data-driven. We built dashboards, defined KPIs, and measured almost everything. But what if the best organizations eventually need to rely on those metrics less, not more?

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/purpose-metrics-make-themselves-less-important-arkady-pildes-7iq3f

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Every major technology shift produces winners, increases output, and quietly leaves someone more tired. The first two are easy to track, so they dominate the story. The third is slower to surface, usually after the excitement fades. As AI prepares for its turn as the next revolution, it is worth asking whether we have even finished tallying the costs of the last one.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/progress-always-sends-someone-bill-arkady-pildes-2fkdf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Imagine a world where every salary increase immediately produced better decisions, stronger collaboration, and happier customers. Managers would stop worrying about culture, leadership, feedback, and strategy. HR could replace leadership development with payroll software. The fact that nobody believes this tells us something important.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/money-motivated-people-management-would-easy-arkady-pildes-e2lvf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

One of the strangest things in corporate life happens when a manager burns out. They have no energy left, struggle to concentrate, and dread opening their calendar. So naturally… We send them to a training course.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/burnout-training-problem-arkady-pildes-k73rf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Product managers love MVPs. Engineers love shipping. Executives love hearing the words “quick win.” Until the product happens to be an aircraft navigation system, a payment platform, or your company’s authentication service. Suddenly, nobody wants to iterate quite so publicly.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/would-you-fly-minimum-viable-product-arkady-pildes-vkcnf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Every organization eventually reaches the same conclusion: we need a stronger leader. A stronger Head of Product. A stronger Operations Director. A stronger Engineering Manager. It sounds perfectly reasonable. It is also one of the most expensive assumptions companies make. Leadership is rarely a property of a person. More often, it is a property of the match between a person and the situation they are placed in.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/most-expensive-myth-business-strong-leaders-exist-arkady-pildes-c1d7f

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

There is something almost poetic about asking leadership development to prove its value by short-term business impact. We want mature leaders, yet we evaluate the development process with immature metrics.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-cannot-build-mature-leaders-immature-metrics-arkady-pildes-caksf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Product teams often build roadmaps as if they are describing the future. In reality, they are describing current assumptions about the future. That difference sounds small, but it changes everything.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-roadmap-hypothesis-prophecy-arkady-pildes-vxkbf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

Good leadership often seems almost invisible. The team works, people know what to do, conflicts do not escalate into wars, and external chaos somehow does not enter the room every morning carrying a new “urgent priority.” Like most infrastructure, leadership is rarely appreciated when it works. It becomes very visible when it is missing.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-infrastructure-you-notice-only-when-fails-arkady-pildes-owrkf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.

We live in an age when a market analysis, competitive review, customer segmentation, and strategic recommendation are just a few prompts away. Information is abundant. Insight isn’t. And that’s changing what separates great professionals from everyone else.

This episode is a companion to my LinkedIn article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/research-has-never-been-cheaper-insight-more-valuable-arkady-pildes-tjfqf

This podcast is generated using an AI version of my voice from a script written and edited by me.