This I Command! How Not to Genetically Engineer Your Next Big Product

If you grew up on G.I. Joe, you remember Serpentor, Cobra’s genetically engineered “super-leader.” Dr. Mindbender, Destro, and the Crimson Twins (I can’t remember their names) spliced together DNA from Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and Attila the Hun. They thought they’d engineered the ultimate commander.

But when Sgt. Slaughter destroyed the Sun Tzu DNA sample, Dr. Mindbender faced a critical product decision: delay the launch to find strategic balance, or ship with a known gap. He chose to ship anyway.

That one decision to launch without the strategic thinking component, which was meant to balance Serpentor’s aggressive nature, turned a promising product into a cautionary tale about bad product leadership.

Don’t Ship with a Missing Foundation

Cobra’s scientists knew exactly what they were missing. Sun Tzu wasn’t just another historical figure; he was the strategist who wrote The Art of War. His DNA was specifically meant to provide the methodical thinking and long-term planning that would temper Serpentor’s aggressive impulses.

When that sample was destroyed, Dr. Mindbender rationalized the gap away: “We have Napoleon’s tactical genius and Caesar’s leadership. Surely that’s enough.”

This is the first hallmark of bad product leadership: knowingly shipping incomplete because of timeline pressure or overconfidence in other features.

Every Product Has a “Sun Tzu”

The missing Sun Tzu DNA wasn’t just about having “all the features.” It was the one critical component that made the others work together effectively. Without strategic patience to balance tactical aggression, Serpentor’s greatest strengths became his greatest weaknesses.

Every product has its “Sun Tzu requirement,” the unglamorous but critical piece that holds everything else together. Data infrastructure. User onboarding flows. Error handling. The plumbing that doesn’t demo well but determines whether your product actually works in the real world.

Bad product leaders consistently undervalue these foundational elements, chasing flashy capabilities while ignoring the structural pieces that make them sustainable.

Don’t Let Ego Justify Launch

With enormous resources already invested in the DNA collection and his reputation on the line, Dr. Mindbender convinced himself his brilliance could compensate for the missing strategic component.

This is the classic sunk cost fallacy in product development: when you’ve invested so much that admitting the product isn’t ready feels impossible. The decision to launch Serpentor wasn’t about whether he could fulfill his core mission. It was about justifying sunk costs and protecting ego.

Early Wins Can Hide Fatal Flaws

Initially, Serpentor looked like a massive win. Bold, decisive, and ambitious, he accomplished what Cobra Commander never could: successfully invading Washington D.C. and bringing his adversaries to their knees. Definitely would have been trending on social media.

But early wins often mask deeper problems. Without Sun Tzu’s strategic thinking, Serpentor couldn’t see beyond immediate victories. He made bold moves without considering long-term consequences, counter-strategies, or sustainable advantage.

Products follow the same arc all the time. Impressive launch metrics hide fundamental flaws until it’s too late.

Missing Requirements Always Catch Up

Serpentor’s downfall wasn’t gradual decline; it was spectacular lack of strategic awareness. His unchecked aggression led him into reckless situations where boldness became liability.

The missing foundational component didn’t just create a small gap. It created a cascade of failures where every strength became a weakness, every victory set up a bigger defeat, and the entire product collapsed under its own weight.

Leadership Without Discipline Creates Chaos

Rather than providing the stable leadership Cobra needed, Serpentor’s flawed design made the organization more volatile than before. His “This I Command!” style shut down feedback, discouraged iteration, and created a culture where tactical wins mattered more than strategic thinking.

The irony is painful: Cobra built a leader to solve their leadership problems, but ended up amplifying their worst tendencies.

Avoid Your Own Serpentor

• Identify your Sun Tzu early: Define the foundational component that makes everything else work.
• Build contingencies for critical dependencies: Don’t let one failure take down the whole project.
• Resist the sunk cost seduction: Delay if critical pieces are missing, even when momentum says ship.
• Design for feedback, not commands: Create a team culture that adapts, not one that demands obedience.

PSA: Knowing Is Half the Battle

So the next time you’re tempted to ship your “brilliant idea” for world domination, or just your next big product, remember: skipping strategic thinking can turn a sure victory into blundering disaster. And knowing is half the battle.

Yo Joe!