Henry VIII for a day

Nov 30, 2012 12:25

Gang Leader for a Day is the latest in a long line of books I've read this year that were about something different than I expected. I thought it'd be the story of the notebook of data Sudhir Venkatesh got from the treasurer of a crack-dealing gang in the Chicago projects, as mentioned in Freakonomics. Instead, it's the story behind how Venkatesh got the notebook, by wandering into the projects and being the one who didn't get shot but instead got befriended by the local gang leader. One of my profs once sat down and worked through the mathematics to show us how Peter Lynch had such amazing performance: probability says that if enough people have mutual funds, someone will roll snake eyes 13 years in a row. Venkatesh was the one whose quarter kept coming up heads, by being naive enough to wander into the projects, by running into an unusually academic but also successful gang, by getting a fellowship that introduced him to Steven Levitt, who took a liking to him and got him publicity.

Venkatesh was a first year sociology student at Chicago who wandered into the Robert Taylor housing projects. Because he's the author and it's first person narrative, it's hard to tell if he knows yet what a stupid idea this was. In the afterward to the audio version, Venkatesh attributes some of his success to being Indian, so he was not immediately classified as "other" and was a bit of a novelty to the residents. He is immediately held by members of the Black Kings, but JT, the local leader, is someone pretty savvy who went to college and worked in the licit economy for a while, who is seduced by the idea of someone from the outside who wants to write about him. I still can't believe Venkatesh didn't get in more trouble, either from the cops or the gang members, with the stuff he said and did. The titular incident arose because he told JT his job was easy and instead of kicking his ass, the gang leader told him to try it for a day.

I put Gang Leader for a Day on my list of books I've read on LinkedIn bc I think it's a fascinating book about management. Freakonomics pointed out that dealing crack as a low-level gang member pays worse than minimum wage, with greater risk of going to jail or getting shot, but young men do it bc they think they can someday make it to the top and rake in the big bucks, just as young associates from the best schools work for worse than minimum wage hoping they can make partner at Goldman or Cravath. Gang Leader for a Day explains how good management techniques, knowing how to attract and motivate the best employees, keeping focused on business rather than ego, is what makes a successful gang leader. Of course, JT has a few tricks in his bag that Jack Welch did not: I'm pretty sure he never ordered someone punched in the face. Probably. Venkatesh is pretty terrible in his day as lord of misrule, shying from necessary violence and harshness.

Instead, I think the author sees his book as being about how people self-organize communities. He emphasizes how the services his middle class upbringing causes him to expect aren't available, like police, ambulances, reasonable prices, and available credit. Because this isn't a political screed, he doesn't take the next step, explaining the gulf between what people outside give and what is needed. It's a completely different perspective to realize the local gang is the employer of choice and a provider of social services when the city's help is filtered through so many layers of corruption, misuse, and waste. By the end of the book, Venkatesh makes it clear that the 30-40K people in this building project might as well be on one of the secluded islands earlier generations of sociologists studied.

data, reading, writing, audiobooks

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