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Some observations about organizations & culture, for modern leaders:
1/10
1/10
1/
Most products don’t HAVE to launch on a certain day. Use the designated launch date as a compass not as turn-by-turn navigations. Don’t drive your team or product into a ditch just to launch “on schedule”.
Most products don’t HAVE to launch on a certain day. Use the designated launch date as a compass not as turn-by-turn navigations. Don’t drive your team or product into a ditch just to launch “on schedule”.
2/
When one 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 thinks about it, “strong opinions weakly held” doesn’t actually mean anything. It just gives people an excuse to be unrigorous & overbearing.
When one 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 thinks about it, “strong opinions weakly held” doesn’t actually mean anything. It just gives people an excuse to be unrigorous & overbearing.
3/
If a leader in your company unabashedly blames “incentives” as the reason for allowing major damage to customers/teams/culture, that person should not be a leader in your company.
If a leader in your company unabashedly blames “incentives” as the reason for allowing major damage to customers/teams/culture, that person should not be a leader in your company.
4/
Company culture has the same effect on people as money. It doesn& #39;t change people, but it grants them the license to be more of who they already are
For almost every trait, people can operate within a range, not just at a fixed point. Culture sets the point within their range.
Company culture has the same effect on people as money. It doesn& #39;t change people, but it grants them the license to be more of who they already are
For almost every trait, people can operate within a range, not just at a fixed point. Culture sets the point within their range.
5/
Drama is the silent killer of products, teams, and ultimately, company culture. And drama usually spreads top→down not bottom→up.
Drama is the silent killer of products, teams, and ultimately, company culture. And drama usually spreads top→down not bottom→up.
6/
Avoid Implicit Functional Hierarchy: Support isn’t inferior to Engineering, Product Mgmt isn’t superior to Sales. They& #39;re equal, but not the same. Implicit Functional Hierarchy might not prevent financial success, but it’ll definitely make your company Not-Fun for many people.
Avoid Implicit Functional Hierarchy: Support isn’t inferior to Engineering, Product Mgmt isn’t superior to Sales. They& #39;re equal, but not the same. Implicit Functional Hierarchy might not prevent financial success, but it’ll definitely make your company Not-Fun for many people.
7/
An exception to a pattern doesn’t make the exception the pattern.
It’s astonishing how often a rigorous discussion gets derailed when someone says in a meeting “well, but this doesn’t apply to <edge case X> [and therefore the pattern is useless]”
An exception to a pattern doesn’t make the exception the pattern.
It’s astonishing how often a rigorous discussion gets derailed when someone says in a meeting “well, but this doesn’t apply to <edge case X> [and therefore the pattern is useless]”
8/
Some degree of uncertainty is a part and parcel of any complex business. The pressure for Certainty Theatrics at high-stakes meetings is at the root of many bad decisions.
Some degree of uncertainty is a part and parcel of any complex business. The pressure for Certainty Theatrics at high-stakes meetings is at the root of many bad decisions.
9/
As a leader, when you notice that people aren’t bringing their authentic selves to high-stakes meetings, their presentations are a little too polished, their intent is to impress not to inform & debate, don’t blame them. Ask what you’ve done to create this pressure & undo it.
As a leader, when you notice that people aren’t bringing their authentic selves to high-stakes meetings, their presentations are a little too polished, their intent is to impress not to inform & debate, don’t blame them. Ask what you’ve done to create this pressure & undo it.
10/
Hiring people just like you is a tempting but unsustainable way to replicate your thinking across a growing organization. Expressing & documenting your frameworks & principles is better. People can’t read your mind. Hence, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Hiring people just like you is a tempting but unsustainable way to replicate your thinking across a growing organization. Expressing & documenting your frameworks & principles is better. People can’t read your mind. Hence, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Back to the top of this thread: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1292324822907682816">https://twitter.com/shreyas/s...
Regarding tweet #2, "strong opinions, weakly held", this is an excellent post by @michaelnatkin that I& #39;d recommend reading in its entirety: https://blog.glowforge.com/strong-opinions-loosely-held-might-be-the-worst-idea-in-tech/">https://blog.glowforge.com/strong-op...
A recent thread on good managers and leaders, along with dozens of additional resources in the footnotes, including book recommendations: https://twitter.com/shreyas/status/1290685921348562948">https://twitter.com/shreyas/s...
