I think what you're describing here is, basically, the concept of tragedy.
Othello could solve the plot of his play in thirty seconds, simply by realising that Iago is an asshole. He does not do this, because trusting Iago is part of Othello's identity. Hamlet could solve the plot of his play in thirty seconds, simply by not being an overthinker stuck in analysis paralysis. He does not do this because that's who he is.
In a tragedy, the bad thing could be averted, but isn't, because the protagonist would have to act against their own nature to avert it. This gives tragedy its sense of inevitability and makes it so fun to read.
That isn't to say that all tragedy is well done, of course. Like all dramatic forms, it can feel really unsatisfying when done by a hack. But when done well, it feels great because we can shout at the screen "NO DON'T TRUST IAGO HE'S LYING" while at the same time understanding why the protagonist does trust Iago.
There's no reason why this can't be applied to institutions too. We are, arguably, living through a tragedy in which Microsoft has been built into a cult by Nadella (first the cult of agile, then the cult of LLMs) and cannot save itself because that would require it to behave non-cultishly.
My sympathy for having been stuck on the inside of real-life failures, though. Seeing large corporations fail to do what must be done is the reason I've always avoided management jobs and just been a senior IC. You are made of sterner stuff than me if you risked that, and I'm sorry to hear it treated you that badly.
@[email protected] @[email protected]
> In a tragedy, the bad thing could be averted, but isn't, because the protagonist would have to act against their own nature to avert it. This gives tragedy its sense of inevitability and makes it so fun to read.
I think this is the difference though: if you don't have the conversation because of a character flaw, that's tragedy. If you don't have the conversation because you get interrupted by a series of increasingly contrived coincidences you have at best a weak farce.
> My sympathy for having been stuck on the inside of real-life failures, though. Seeing large corporations fail to do what must be done is the reason I've always avoided management jobs and just been a senior IC. You are made of sterner stuff than me if you risked that, and I'm sorry to hear it treated you that badly.
Thank you, but I'm not made of that sterner stuff either! Part of the problem/the saving grace was that I didn't go into management, I was supposed to be an IC with training and education responsibilities. But training one type of good practice/workflow doesn't work if the manager who wanted the training done is no longer in the position to actually push doing the things that are being trained (and the new manager is actively pushing other ways of doing things that are fine in themselves, but clash with what you've been asked to teach people)
