<div dir="auto">Hi Les</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Been there, done that, got the T shirt. Not fun but did it anyway. The company concerned lost a lot of money and even tried to sue their customer (failed) when there was a failure to certify. They are still in business with some of the senior management still in place. Only one maybe 2 got their comeuppance, so not the best of outcomes from that perspective. The kit was eventually sorted at least to an extent. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Cheers. </div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, 28 Dec 2022 at 03:42, Les Chambers <<a href="mailto:les@chambers.com.au">les@chambers.com.au</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Hi all<br>
I have found the last honest man on the planet Earth. <br>
Tyler Schultz, the biologist and truth teller who brought down Theranos, <br>
reducing a multibillion dollar company to zero and sending it’s founder and <br>
CEO Elizabeth Holmes to jail for 11.25 years.<br>
Tyler‘s story is of interest to this list as it gives a unique insight into <br>
the mind of the whistleblower as he navigates the rocky road of doing the <br>
right thing.<br>
Ryan Holiday interviews Tyler on his podcast, The Daily Stoic, Episode:<br>
“Theranos Whistleblower Tyler Shultz on Doing the Right Thing and Overcoming <br>
Fear.”<br>
It’s a rattling good tale, highly recommended.<br>
My summary and take-aways follow:<br>
<br>
The Situation <br>
Elizabeth Holmes claimed that her company had invented a portable blood <br>
analyser that could perform 300 different blood tests using a tiny speck of <br>
blood from a finger pinprick. These claims were false, leading to charges that <br>
Holmes defrauded investors who lost hundreds of <br>
millions of dollars on a false promise.<br>
As is common in this class of scenario the fraud was common knowledge inside <br>
the company. Some Theranos scientists took the easy path and politely <br>
resigned. Others clothed themselves in St Augustine’s duty of virtue - “Oh <br>
Lord make me virtuous, but not yet” - and looked the other way. Still more <br>
made noises and we’re promptly fired. Tyler Schultz, armed with an <br>
industrial strength moral compass, took them head on. Tyler’s personal <br>
situation was made even more interesting by …<br>
<br>
The Complication<br>
Tyler Schultz was the paternal grandson of Theranos boardmember George <br>
Schultz.<br>
Remember George?<br>
PhD in industrial economics (MIT)<br>
Member of Dwight D Eisenhower‘s council of economic advisors<br>
Dean of University of Chicago Graduate School of Business<br>
Richard Nixon’s United States Secretary of Labour<br>
Richard Nixon‘s United States Secretary of the Treasury<br>
CEO of Bechtel Corporation<br>
Ronald Reagan‘s United States Secretary of State<br>
Informal policy advisor to George W Bush<br>
Safe to say George knew a lot of people. He actively promoted the company <br>
attracting many big names to the Theranos board. It ultimately included:<br>
• Henry Kissinger (former United States Secretary of State);<br>
• Jim Mattis (retired Marine Corps four-star general);<br>
• Richard Kovacevich (former CEO of Wells Fargo);<br>
• William Perry (former United States Secretary of Defense); and<br>
• William Foege (former director of the Centers for Disease <br>
Control and Prevention).<br>
All men north of 80 years old who knew nothing of modern biological <br>
technology.<br>
<br>
Tyler’s Problem<br>
A weaponised nondisclosure agreement. The tool used to threaten noisy truth <br>
telling employees with prolonged legal action that would mean financial <br>
oblivion for the righteous and the good. <br>
The threat of career oblivion. The classic, “you’ll never work again as a <br>
scientist if you do this.”<br>
The situation turned nasty. Holmes hired private detectives to follow him. <br>
Theranos lawyers threatened him. There were attempts to destroy his life. He <br>
had a falling out with his grandfather.<br>
<br>
Tyler’s Solution<br>
He tried to prove he was wrong to himself … and failed. The claims were <br>
blatantly and transparently false. This process of internal reflection gave <br>
him a very strong conviction that he was right. He tried to work internally <br>
within the company including briefing his own grandfather who refused to <br>
listen. He tried anonymous tips to New York State regulators using spoofed <br>
email accounts and burner phones but ultimately realised he would have to go <br>
public and risk his name to affect real change.<br>
<br>
Tyler’s Enablers<br>
He had less to lose than most.<br>
He was 23 with the idealism of youth, no children and no mortgage.<br>
As an American citizen he had no visa problems. Other non-US citizens at the <br>
company had work visas conditional on them working for Theranos. <br>
He had no share options.<br>
He had no compelling desire for a career in science. His love of music meant <br>
he could just as easily pursue a career as a musician.<br>
He admits to being arrogant and opinionated.<br>
He was brought up to do the right thing by his parents.<br>
His parents had the wherewithal to pay his legal bills. They had to sell their <br>
house. They discovered they had created a monster. The boy they had raised to <br>
do the right thing proceeded to take them at their word. To their eternal <br>
credit they backed him.<br>
<br>
The Board’s Problem<br>
How was Elizabeth Holmes able to snow her own board? These men were hardened <br>
players with long and successful careers in business, the military, politics <br>
and the diplomatic service?<br>
Answer<br>
Greed. George Schultz’s shareholding in Theranos amounted to hundreds of <br>
millions of dollars. Even at the age of 96 he wanted to go out as a <br>
billionaire. Evidence of the corrupting influence of money.<br>
Ego. George Schultz was certain in his own judgement, he had been right so <br>
many times before he used that as sole evidence that he was right this time. <br>
Even when faced with scientific evidence from a Stanford educated scientist <br>
who happened to be his beloved grandson.<br>
Love. According to Tyler the entire board (all men of average age in the 80s) <br>
was in love with Elizabeth Holmes. The black turtleneck wearing Bamby. They <br>
vied for her attention. Henry Kissinger wrote her limericks lovingly offering <br>
that Steve Jobs was an earlier version of her.<br>
Ignorance. Beware of boards of directors stacked with “names” who are not <br>
qualified to perform due diligence on the company they are allegedly employed <br>
to guide.<br>
Story. A global factor in all this was Elizabeth Holmes casting as hero in a <br>
story everyone wanted to believe. Here is a genius 20 something, a Steve Jobs <br>
reincarnate on the path to a new Apple. Everyone knew what the hero wanted and <br>
they wanted her to have it.<br>
<br>
Lessons I Learned<br>
Make sure you are right. Telling the truth will attract attacks from all <br>
directions so you’d better have verifiable facts at hand. In extremis Tyler <br>
had a strategy to challenge his accusers to bring their machine into court and <br>
do 300 blood tests on the judge. If it ever did come to that the test would <br>
certainly have failed but even with this kind of certainty the case <br>
dragged on for months and cost a fortune.<br>
Don’t be intimidated. Powerful people can be incredibly intimidating. Imagine <br>
standing up to George Schultz. Yet he was a human being capable of concealing <br>
massive character flaws. If you cut them they’ll bleed. Truth telling is a <br>
socially levelling activity. Who cares if you’re interlocutor has advised <br>
presidents , if he’s lying he’s lying. We are all naked in the face of <br>
the truth.<br>
Name the pathology. Name the personality flaw that is feeding the pathological <br>
behaviour. I once told a project manager, who had just attempted to crash a <br>
software project, that his strategy was so bad the malfeasance had been <br>
documented as bad practice in several books. It shook him up. <br>
<br>
Stoic Virtues <br>
Why then are the Stoics interested in Tyler Shultz? <br>
It’s because, at high personal cost, he actually practised the stoic virtues <br>
of courage, justice, temperance and wisdom. <br>
<br>
Engineering Virtues<br>
Why then should people on this list be interested in Tyler Schultz.<br>
Because if you pursue a career in functional safety for long enough and work <br>
for enough companies, at some point, there is a high probability that you will <br>
find yourself in a similar position. <br>
I have.<br>
My first reaction was shock. How could the senior management, who I <br>
previously respected, lie so easily? This is where stoic philosophy, <br>
originating circa 300 BCE with the Phoenician merchant Zeno, can be a <br>
practical assistance to engineers right here right now. <br>
In his book, The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holliday gives the example of the Zen <br>
master who has a favourite cup. He had always viewed it as his broken cup <br>
because he knew that at some point he would inevitably break it. So when the <br>
day came there was no shock, just a passing thought, as he viewed it in pieces <br>
on the floor, “but of course”.<br>
In the same vein one day, sitting in an engineering meeting viewing your <br>
“broken” senior management commiting blatant malfeasance, your thought should <br>
be “well here it is“. Followed by an execution of the strategy you have worked <br>
out well before hand. <br>
Daily journaling, a strong stoic discipline, can help you with this. Refer the <br>
meditations of Marcus Aurelius (the last of the five good Roman Emperors 160 <br>
to 180 AD). Marcus journaled for his own purposes, to reflect on his day and <br>
meditate on his path to being a better person. <br>
<br>
Which brings me to my final point. The more I read of the ancient <br>
philosophers, especially the stoics, the more certain I am that philosophy <br>
should be at the heart of the engineering curriculum. Let us not continue to <br>
graduate technical monsters with no moral compass and no idea how to live a <br>
good life as an engineer.<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
Les<br>
<br>
Epilogue - What Happened to Tyler Schultz?<br>
After being fired from Theranos Tyler worked at Stanford's Center for Magnetic <br>
Nanotechnology.<br>
In 2017 he founded his own biotech company, Flux Biosciences which, according <br>
to LinkedIn, “utilises magnetic sensing to bring the power of medical grade <br>
diagnostics into patients’ homes.”<br>
The word is he reconciled with his grandfather prior to his death in 2021.<br>
--<br>
<br>
Les Chambers<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:les@chambers.com.au" target="_blank">les@chambers.com.au</a><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
The System Safety Mailing List<br>
<a href="mailto:systemsafety@TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE" target="_blank">systemsafety@TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE</a><br>
Manage your subscription: <a href="https://lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/mailman/listinfo/systemsafety" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/mailman/listinfo/systemsafety</a><br>
</blockquote></div></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><span></span><span></span>Nick Tudor<div>Tudor Associates Ltd</div><div>Mobile: +44(0)7412 074654</div><div><a href="http://www.tudorassoc.com" target="_blank">www.tudorassoc.com</a></div><div><img src="http://www.tudorassoc.com/wpimages/wpb4e71a5c_0f.jpg" width="200" height="40"></div><div><font color="#00144d" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><b><br></b></font></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><b><span></span><span></span>77 Barnards Green Road</b></font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><b>Malvern</b></font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><b>Worcestershire</b></font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><b>WR14 3LR</b><strong><br>Company No. 07642673</strong></font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><strong>VAT No:116495996</strong></font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="1"><strong><br></strong></font></span></div><div><strong style="color:rgb(0,20,77);font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:x-small"><a href="http://www.aeronautique-associates.com" target="_blank">www.aeronautique-associates.com</a></strong>
</div></div>