Thread regarding NVIDIA Corp. layoffs

No worries for Nvidia as long as JH is in charge

The way that Jensen Huang runs Nvidia is wild:

40 direct reports, no 1:1s

  • Believes that the flattest org is the most empowering one, and that starts with the top layer
  • Does not conduct 1:1s - everything happens in a group setting
  • Does not give career advice - "None of my management team is coming to me for career advice - they already made it, they're doing great"

No status reports, instead he "stochastically samples the system"

  • Doesn't use status updates because he believes they are too refined by the time they get to him. They are not ground truth anymore.
  • Instead, anyone in the company can email him their "top five things" with whatever is top of mind, and he will read it
  • Estimates he reads 100 of these everyone morning

Everyone has all the context, all the time

  • No meetings with just VPs or just Directors - anyone can join and contribute
  • "If you have a strategic direction, why tell just one person?"
  • "If there is something I don't like, I just say it publicly"
  • "I do a lot of reasoning out loud"

No formal planning cycles

  • No 5 year plan, no 1 year plan
  • Always re-evaluating based on changing business and market conditions (helpful when AI is developing at the pace that it is)

This org is optimized for (1) attracting amazing people, (2) keeping the team as small as it can be, and (3) allowing information to travel as quickly as possible

https://twitter.com/danhockenmaier/status/1701608618087571787

by Anonymous
| 1571 views | | 1 reply (March 13, 2024) | Reply
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Comment! It's anonymous!

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Your statement sounds correct on the surface and I believe Jensen is doing amazing best he can. However, under the surface things are getting bad.

Flat org - is no more as org depth to any Sr. Eng. is approximately 7-9 layers up to Jensen!

Status updates - the cult of "Top 5" serving appearance instead of substance is in many teams the "main shell" of their veneer to create the illusion of productivity and competence, while if you really scratch many claims fall very quickly. Toxic managers use Top 5 for all the wrong motivations and this is no more secret anywhere.

Culture deterioration - Directors and Managers are the center of the detachment systemic disease, where in the beginning phases of the disease when the first bad team (typically gang of one director and its a** kissing managers) succeed they set the example and double down on it using it to fight with other groups (good or just not the part of their kingdom/gang). Over just couple of years, the result is that there is increase in nepotistic/toxic gangs and decrease in a competent/fair/professional teams. This disease has already progressed quite a lot and might be the last chance to root it out, but it won't be easy and it requires someone to see beyond "playing by the rules" yet who is uncompromisingly fair and able to fix or augment rules with new mechanisms to prevent it in the future.

by Anonymous
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