What it is
A three-part model for how powerful companies operate:
- Story: what they say they are. Liberators, visionaries, fire-bringers.
- Incentives: what actually pays. Ship fast, capture markets, externalize risk and privatize gains, and file the harms under “edge cases” and “user misuse.”
- Outcomes: what accumulates downstream, for everyone else.
When the story and the outcomes disagree, believe the incentives.
How it shows up for me
I first wrote it about AI companies, but it works for anyone, including me. When my story about myself doesn’t match what happens around me, I look at what I’m actually rewarded for.