Palantir CTO on managing top talent and owning a major mistake

Palantir’s chief technology officer, Shyam Sankar, uses a Superman analogy to help employees spot what they do effortlessly and what drains them. “Superpowers are effortless,” he said, pointing to abilities like flying or seeing through walls as things a person naturally does well.

He urges staff to also identify their “kryptonite” — weaknesses that aren’t worth grinding away at and are better avoided. “It’s not like something you can work on. The only strategy for Superman around kryptonite was to avoid it,” Sankar said, adding that discovery often comes through exposure and that the company doesn’t want a culture of punishment: “you don’t want to create a culture which is like, you fuck this up, I gotta fire you.” Sankar recalled once making a major error and going straight to Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp.

“I sheepishly went into Alex and was just completely honest,” he said.

palantir, shyam sankar, alex karp, cto, superman, kryptonite, talent management, leadership, company culture, accountability