---
id: "entity-valve"
type: "entity"
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "Valve"
aliases: ["Valve Corporation", "Valve Software"]
source_timestamps: ["00:02:38"]
tags: ["management-theory", "case-study"]
related: ["claim-silent-failure"]
canonicalUrl: "https://www.valvesoftware.com/"
sources: ["s15-block-layoffs"]
sourceVaultSlug: "s15-block-layoffs"
originDay: 15
---
# Valve

## Profile

Valve is briefly mentioned alongside [[entity-zappos]] as an example of unconventional management structures.

## Role in This Source

Valve is known for its 'flat' hierarchy, which the video notes actually resulted in a hidden, well-documented power structure. Per enrichment, the dynamics were eventually surfaced via the leaked 2012 employee handbook and other accounts.

## Why It Matters in This Argument

Like Zappos, Valve is used to illustrate that when human management systems are altered or fail, the resulting dynamics — even *hidden* ones — eventually become visible and diagnosable, unlike the silent failures of AI systems described in [[claim-silent-failure]] and [[contrarian-failure-visibility]].

## Related

- [[claim-silent-failure]]
- [[entity-zappos]]
- [[entity-medium]]
- [[concept-silent-failure]]