There is no process. It will be painful. - Shyam Sankar

The Department of Defense’s bold, new Replicator initiative is under criticism from industry and government for a lack of details on the process to implement the effort. Now is a good time to zoom out and ask: what is the role of process? The release of Rob Copeland’s book The Fund (2023) has me thinking a lot about what, if anything, can be systematized without destroying the very thing being systematized. The book is about the unique hedge fund Bridgewater and its founder, Ray Dalio1. Before The Principles was a book, it was a PDF hung awkwardly off the bridgewater.com website. A younger Shyam was enamored with the Principles, which carry great wisdom and are worth reflecting on (to use a Bridgewater-ism). I printed them out and bound them into books at Kinkos for reference and as a party favor. But painfully and empirically, I’ve come to realize that the fetish of scaling through structure, process, and legibility are opioids, not medicines, for success. It is comforting to belie

The Department of Defense’s bold, new Replicator initiative is under criticism from industry and government for a lack of details on the process to implement the effort. Now is a good time to zoom out and ask: what is the role of process? The release of Rob Copeland’s book The Fund (2023) has me thinking a lot about what, if anything, can be systematized without destroying the very thing being systematized. The book is about the unique hedge fund Bridgewater and its founder, Ray Dalio1. Before The Principles was a book, it was a PDF hung awkwardly off the bridgewater.com website. A younger Shy