There is a strange phenomenon in corporate hierarchies. When a leader rises, their team starts to mimic them. If the boss wears black turtlenecks, the team starts buying turtlenecks. If the boss sends emails at 2 AM, the team starts scheduling emails for 2 AM. If the boss is aggressive in meetings, the team starts interrupting each other.
This is not “alignment.” This is Cargo Culting.
The Cargo Cult Metaphor – In WWII, islanders in the Pacific saw American planes land with cargo (food, supplies). When the war ended, the planes stopped coming. So, the islanders built fake airports out of bamboo. They built wooden antennas and straw planes. They marched in formation. They copied the form, hoping to get the result. But no planes landed. Because they didn’t understand the system—aerodynamics, radio waves, logistics.
The Surface vs. The Source – When you copy your superior’s habits, you are building a bamboo airport.
-
You are copying their Output (the temper, the hours, the clothes).
-
You are ignoring their Source Code (the judgment, the risk tolerance, the decades of experience).
Steve Jobs didn’t win because he wore a turtleneck. He won despite it. Elon Musk isn’t successful because he sleeps on the factory floor. He sleeps on the floor because he is obsessed with solving a specific physics problem.
The Protocol: Steal the OS, Not the App – Do not mimic the behavior. Decode the thinking.
-
Don’t ask: “What would the boss do?”
-
Ask: “What framework is the boss using to make this decision?”
If you copy the behavior without the competence, you don’t look like a leader. You look like a parody.
#DhandheKaFunda: Authenticity is the only currency that doesn’t devalue. If you are a cheap copy of your boss, you are redundant.