Superlinear Returns
PG radically underestimates the continuing importance of institutions in the modern world, which is understandable given how and with whom he spends his days. The public sector is huge and largely old fashioned heirarchical/institutional. What is the Fortune 500, if not a big list of institutions.<p>Read the CV of any new-minted corporate CEO almost without fail you'll find that before leaping into the C-suite they first laboured for 15 years in one big institution, building credibility and experience.<p>Big law firms, big financial firms, the military, academia, on and on it goes, large institutions within which career advancement depends on finding ones way through the institutional culture and comporting oneself to it, in greater and lesser ways.