Thinksum

I Hope Barry Bonds hits .400

I admit it, I'm a Barry Bonds fan.  I guess it's because I respect his ridiculous talent, but more I respect the fact that he can stay focused despite the fact that so many people criticize him.  This whole steroid business has been way over-blown ... the bottom line is that no matter what he used, or any player used during that period, baseball had no rules or policy regarding the use.  This is baseball's problem, not Barry Bonds'.  He's been a scapegoat, and yet he has continued to perform and to handle himself in a classy way (yes, I said classy).  I'd like to know how many other people could handle this the way he has.

In light of Balco and MLB investigations, we all know that he's not using steroids now and hasn't for a few years.  But at 42 years old (just 2 years younger than me) it looks like 2007 could be another monster year.  He's worked his way back from multiple injuries and persevered despite all the public criticism.

He'll most likely break Hank Aaron's record, and I'll be glad.  I remember Aaron's last few years, but in my lifetime I've never seen a greater and more consistent hitter than Bonds, and one who can perform in the clutch too (take that A-Rod).

But what I really hope it that he hits .400 this season -- it's not impossible, since he's currently hitting .357 w/ an OBP over .500, and he's had seasons of .370 and .360.  If he did that, at age 42, it would be the ultimate "in your face" to all his critics.  And I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants win the World Series too (if my Red Sox don't) although that's unlikely given their roster.

Barry Bonds success isn't a result of steroids, although steroids may have had some effect on his stats.  Barry Bonds' success goes beyond his stats.  His success is the result of talent, focus, and very hard work.  Congratulations to him for every record he achieves.  John Wooden said that "success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."  I imagine Barry Bonds will feel at peace when he's done playing with the success he's achieved, and that will make the stigma that will always surround him easier to bear.

Hubris

Hubris (hyōō'brĭs) n. overbearing pride or presumption, arrogance.  From Greek hybris, "wanton violence, insolence, outrage," originally "presumption toward the Gods."

Something in the blogosphere prompted this, maybe you can guess ...

One thing I don't like about Silicon Valley, and maybe it's part of the reason I don't live there anymore, is the amount of hubris.  Larry Ellison, Marc Andreessen, dot-com bubble babies and VC glad-handers ... the list is long and if you've lived or visited there you probably know what I mean.  The valley is filled with many thoughtful and highly intelligent people who are fantastic practitioners of our profession, who care about software and computing and its application first, glory and fame second.  But the shadows of greed, ego and hubris seem to block the sun on a regular basis.  Of course it's not just in the valley.  And its not just our industry.  It's an Indiana Jones culture.

But we give an incredible amount of credit to people who make money.  Some people seem to think that financial success represents technical acumen and vision.  But it's usually more attributable to hard work and being in the right place at the right time, sometimes even just a low-down willingness to walk over other people.  The people with the best technology understanding and vision are often not the people in the limelight.  Even the so-called "technical leaders" of success stories are often not the most significant technical contributors inside their own companies.

Sometimes you just need to filter out the noise.  Imho we should value humility and beware of hubris.  We need to choose our wise men and women carefully.  And, as Socrates knew, a self-appointed wise man may not always be so wise.

Political Turf

So Shai Agassi left SAP ... I'm sure he was disappointed in Netweaver's lack of success.  Sure SAP customers may want to use it, but relevance beyond that is nil.  Why do application vendors ever think they're going to make their own proprietary stuff into a hugely successful platform (hint hint salesforce.com)?  It's like when Microsoft thought it could take over programming languages with C#.  Self-delusion.

One interesting thing about SAP is the culture clash between the German parent and the platform team in California.  At my last company, about two years ago we entered into serious discussions with SAP about being acquired (we ended up being acquired by someone else).  I participated in due diligence with folks from SAP Germany and also SAP in Palo Alto.  It was clear to those of us who participated that there was an uncomfortable relationship between the groups.  The Palo Alto people considered themselves smarter (I'm not sure they were), but the folks from Germany were clearly in charge.  Every meeting was fraught with internal politics, all the SAP people being very careful about what they would say in front of others, and saying different things to us when we were alone in rooms.

I never met Shai Agassi, but from what I could tell he seemed more like a politician than a software person (which he kind of purported to be in leading the SAP platform vision).  I'm not surprised that political involvement is part of his future plan.

That's why I like start-ups and small companies.  Less politics, less hassles.