Managing Physics

Andy Grove ran Intel.

He had one rule: "Disagree and commit."

Say your piece. Make your case.

Then fully support the decision.

Or leave.

Harsh? No. Honest.

(Most advice pretends power doesn't exist. Grove just said it out loud.)

When you stop trying to change your manager, something shifts.

You start working with their style, not against it.

Like water finding the easiest path...

Manager wants details? Give details.
Hates surprises? No surprises.
Thinks in spreadsheets? Learn spreadsheet.

Every rebellion meeting in the parking lot, every 'they just don't get it' conversation, every eye roll in the Zoom—that's energy that could have built something. Instead, it built resentment.

Every minute wishing they were different is a minute not spent on what you control.

Your work. Your skills. Your next move.

Some call it "managing up."
I call it reality.

Grove's rule wasn't about power.

It was about not wasting your life in meetings about meetings about why things can't change.