Research Notes: When the Memo Becomes the Technology

I re-read Block’s February layoff announcement: why do these CEO letters all sound the same? Not just similar in tone, the way corporate communications tend to blur together, but structurally identical. Acknowledgement of pain, assertion of strength, invocation of AI as force of nature, reframing of cuts as courage. Read Dorsey’s shareholder letter, then Cannon-Brookes’s blog post two weeks later, then WiseTech’s announcement the same week as Block. The pattern wasn’t subtle. It was liturgical. That word showed up in my notes early and never left. Most of the digging happened during the week of March 17, 2026, while the pattern was still fresh.