Chapter 6: Leading Braids

We met Jim Whitehurst, the CEO of the Linux open-source company Red Hat in Chapter 4. Having spent his career in traditional organizations prior to joining Red Hat, Whitehurst (2015) writes that the adjustment to the world of Red Hat was full of mistakes and learning for him.

So, if command and control is out in braided companies where many of the most important contributors aren’t even on the payroll, what do leaders of braided companies do? Are they totally irrelevant or even worse, a drag on innovation? Actually, the answer is “no.” Even though Whitehurst leads differently now than in the past, he is still earning his pay.