I found this post about awkward 1:1s valuable and hope to begin incorporating some of the suggestions in 1:1s. Very often, people waste most of the 1:1s potential. You might make a little agenda, and then give some updates, some light feedback, and share some complaints. It’s helpful and valuable and nice. But, ask yourself: is the conversation hard? Are you a little nervous or unsure how to get out what you’re trying to say? Is it awkward?Because if it’s not a bit awkward, you’re not talking …
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Leadership and Value Add Disease
I came across this article from Boz discussing "value add disease" as it pertains to leadership, and it struck a chord. It's certainly something I'm trying to keep top of mind as I step into a different leadership role at Zapier. Defining "value add disease": Whether it be a manager or a reviewer or inspector, people in positions of authority feel a sense of responsibility. Like anyone else they have a job to do and they want to do it well. If work is presented to them and they make no …
Churchill on Leading With Calm During a Crisis
I recently finished reading The Splendid and the Vile, a fantastic novel depicting Winston Churchill's first year as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. While reading, I was struck by the gravity of the situation Churchill faced immediately upon stepping into office. Hitler had begun his conquest across Europe conquering Holland and Belgium. France would fall soon afterwards. Throughout his first 12 months as Prime Minister, Germany would bomb the United Kingdom relentlessly, killing tens …
Peterson on Comparison
I just finished re-reading Jordan B. Peterson's 12 Rules for Life. I read slowly—managing maybe 10 pages per day. Speed wasn't the goal. I wanted to digest as much as I could. I probably underlined and highlighted passages on half of the pages. I found something valuable in each rule, but my favorites were "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today" and "Be precise in your speech." In the rule on comparison, Peterson had this fantastic quote that I …
Mental Models for Any Time
If you're like me, your mind has been overloaded by information recently. As a result, I've been trying to use this pandemic to build better mental models and become a better thinker overall. You can think of mental models as simply a way to understand what's going on in the world and make sense of complexity. The goal is to make better decisions when your mind would otherwise be overwhelmed by details. My go-to resource (for a long time now) for becoming a better thinker and developing …
A Few Random Thoughts in Reading
I’m a huge book nerd. I geek out over reading lists, love visiting physical bookstores when I travel, and am in the minority of people still collecting physical books in the age of Kindle. I try to start every day with 10 pages of reading, and reading a physical book is my preferred way to wind down at night. With all of that in mind, I've spent far too much time over the past years thinking and reading about...reading. Here's a smattering of thoughts on what you should read, how to start …
The Positive Impact Test
In the most recent Distributed podcast, Matt chatted with Vanessa Van Edwards of Science of People. I’ve had the episode queued up in Overcast since it came out, and I finally had an opportunity to listen to it yesterday during some yard work. I thought the conversation was wonderful and provided many tactical tips including how to look and sound better over Zoom calls, which is applicable as many people switch from in-person to forced remote work. They also talked about our internal …
Two Criteria for Believability
Back in 2017, I read Principles by Ray Dalio. It has since become one of my favorite professional books of all time and one I'd certainly recommend to anyone. Dalio ran Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, for many years and created a unique culture that he describes in the book. A key concept of Principles is the idea of believability and making decisions within a group. The problem with a democracy is that it assumes that everyone’s views are equally valuable.Ray …
Three Routines for Right Now
I've spent more time than usual watching the news and scanning social media over the past week. I don't think I'm alone. "Normal" today looks much different than it did even a week ago. COVID-19 has taken over the world stage and will likely continue to do so for quite some time. Like everyone else, I'm adapting to new routines and finding "rocks" in my day to build in some consistency. As author James Clear notes, "In times of uncertainty, your habits can ground you." Here are three …