2 The Blub Paradox
OUTLINE STAGE
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In his 2001 essay Beating the Averages, Paul Graham described what he called the “Blub Paradox.” He imagined a hypothetical programming language, Blub, sitting in the middle of the power curve. A Blub programmer could look down and see the limitations of weaker languages, but when looking up at more powerful ones, “they all seemed equally weird.” The paradox is that unless you’ve experienced a higher-level language, you can’t recognize what it gives you.
2.0.1 1. Opening Hook
- Introduce Graham’s Blub Paradox with the excerpt above.
- Frame it as more than a programming anecdote — it’s a universal truth about perception and judgment.
2.0.2 2. The Original Paradox Explained
- Describe Graham’s continuum: low-level → Blub (middle) → higher-level.
- The asymmetry: you can always see down, but not up.
- Key insight: recognition of power requires exposure, not just reasoning.
2.0.3 3. The Blub Paradox in Organizations
- Strategy vs. process: if you’ve never seen strategy done well, you’ll dismiss it as fluff and keep tweaking process.
- Structure vs. people: if you’ve never redesigned structure, every conflict looks like a “people problem.”
- Political capital: if you’ve never had capital to spend, you won’t see why it matters — you’ll only see what you can afford.
2.0.4 4. Why It Matters for Delivery Leaders
- Leaders often waste energy arguing with “Blub thinkers.”
- You can’t persuade someone up the curve with words alone — they literally lack the lens.
- Outcomes and exposure are the only real teachers.
2.0.5 5. Breaking the Paradox
- Model judgment: show higher-leverage thinking in action.
- Create experiences: let people live what higher leverage feels like