What noted boss, entrepreneur, political reformer, or scientist is "normal?" That doesn't go with the territory.
So, Emily Gould's dish on her former employer Nick Denton at Gawker was bound to be mighty predictable. After all, Gould is no Ana Marie Cox, another former Gawker writer. And as many of us compulsive media folks know, Cox panned Gould's book AND THE HEART SAYS WHATEVER, which is really a trashy coming-of-age memoir about a reckless young woman in the mean streets of Manhattan.
The normal among my own bosses, clients, and colleagues never got far. Frayed inner wiring seems to be a prerequisite for professional success. In GAME THEORY, Ken Binmore tells us that John Nash, who recovered from mental illness in time to win the Noble Prize, observed:
" ... without his 'madness,' he would perhaps only have been another of the faceless multitudes who have lived and died on this planet without leaving any trace of their existence behind."
This is certainly self-serving but the speechwriters and ghostwriters who deliver the best outcomes for their clients usually can only exist outside traditional organizations. There's more. Most often the white-bread insiders won't hire us as full-time employees any way. Fortunately, when an important assignment comes along, they seem to know where we are and contract our services.
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