Originally Posted by Nika Talaj

With respect to the new CEO, are you perhaps referring to this quote from the Reuters story?First, note that the reporter's take on the Tao is similar to mine - employees can choose projects. Once part of a project though (which probably involves 2-15 people or so), in all organizations I've been part of, you do what needs to be done. There may be negotiations ("OK, I will do shit work for 6-8 months, but then I'd like to work on something new"), but overall engineers on a project do what they're asked to do.

And I interpret Kingdon's statement as backing down somewhat from the Tao. Obviously, if you want to engage people's creative energies (and even in bug fixing there is creativity, ask Nicholaz), they have to agree with the overall direction. "As much as possible" is, in my book, an equivocation - if I worked at LL, I'd be prepared for more concrete role assignment under Kingdon's watch.