Ask “What Problem Are You Solving?” 3 Times Per Day
Want to be more productive? Want your team to be more productive? Make a habit of asking “what problem are you solving?” 3 times per day. Ask this question of everyone on your team, including yourself. When a colleague, delegate, or manager fails to clearly name the problem they want to solve after three sentences, INTERRUPT THEM. […]
The One Thing I Did to Drastically Improve the Way I Communicate
My Go-To Trick For Getting Shit Done “Instead of changing your words, try changing the order in which you say them.” There’s a well-established joke that technologists are some of the worst communicators on the planet. Think for a moment about the characters in shows like The IT Crowd or Silicon Valley, and you’ll come up […]
Notify Then Do
How to Keep Your Startup on a Path of Productivity Ineffective leaders come in many forms, two of the most common being “micromanagers” and “absentee managers”. But, what forms are effective? One approach is called notify, then do. I love this pattern because it eliminates the need for constant approval. When using this pattern, I only need respond with two “no’s” rather than […]
Managing Up
Everyone Has Had A Terrible Boss I’ve had them, and I’ve been one… but, bosses are only terrible if you allow them to be. Here’s my framework for managing my manager, improving my personal happiness, and becoming a better delegate. Management 101: Define Projects Using Five Variables Time $ Quality/Scope Expertise (who performs the work) Risk […]
How To Portray Confidence As An Engineer
Murphy’s Law, “Whatever Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong” Best Exemplifies The Mindset Of A Great Engineer An engineer’s outlook is inherently pessimistic, although some may simply call it “practical.” This is appropriate when building stuff, but when speaking with CEOs or board members, that sort of approach doesn’t fly. “I figured out a simple, […]
How to Hold a Rally Meeting
The Rally Meeting Is An Unavoidable Event “Bad shit is coming. It always is in a startup. The odds of getting from launch to liquidity without some kind of disaster happening are one in a thousand. So don’t get demoralized.” – Paul Graham The truth is, success in the industry is hard won, and even […]
