Palantir's tech head explains how he manages stars — and how he owned a big screwup to the CEO

Shyam Sankar said the company encourages employees to find out their "superpowers" and their "Kryptonite."

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• Palantir's tech chief uses a "Superman" analogy to help employees identify their strengths and weaknesses.
• Shyam Sankar said Palantir's culture values honesty and learning from mistakes.
• The CTO shared a time when he made a major mistake and came clean to Palantir's CEO.

Palantir's chief technology...