Building better teams through timeless principles.
While meditating, I was struck by a phrase: If you don’t know who you are, you won’t know who you can become. Know thyself. Many a philosopher has ruminated on this mantra and proffered views of its meaning. It’s inscribed at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece. In philosophy, “know thyself” is a call for self-examination and introspection. Understanding your own nature is how you achieve…
A lot of people instinctively react negatively. They come from a defensive posture, no matter how the work is presented. This poses a challenge because it can also put you, the presenter, in the defensive posture. Now you’re reacting negatively in response in order to protect your ego and defend your ideas (or the ideas of the team for which you’re presenting). But this backfires. You can’t fight…
I’m always experimenting with how I work. And I try to avoid the productivity trap where you spend all your time organizing the work instead of actually doing the work. This is why I love experiments ( Issue #15 ). Just try it. Design a simple experiment, run it, and mindfully observe what happens so you can learn and improve. If you catch yourself saying, “I wonder if…,” stop wondering and try…
I have a complicated relationship with goals. I understand their benefits, and often use them extensively, but I also struggle with such rigid constraints. It prevents opportunities for serendipity and curiosity to carve new paths. It’s harder to explore when you’re executing on a predetermined plan. This is most noticeable with the current incarnation of goals and how we format them. From OKRs to…
Let me process my thoughts. I’m sure you’ve heard this, or been the author of such a statement. But what does it mean? How do you process your thoughts in reality? And is there a shared framework we can all work from? I recently unlocked an insight about my purpose and the unique superpower I possess. This realization was a culmination of a range of factors and experiences, some planned and some…
My youngest son really likes helping me and my wife with tasks. Whether it’s cooking, cleaning, or completing chores, he wants to help with every step. After we complete each step of the process, he asks, “ What’s next? ”. I love this question because it’s such a wonderful mindset to adopt while engaged in active learning. It’s a positive mindset focused on forward progress. There’s no concern…
Throughout my career, I’ve been known for efficiency. Everyone views me as the person who can get the most done in the least amount of time. I’ve long worn this identity as a badge of honor. One of the best parts of being identified this way is the reality you strengthen around it. But one of the worst parts of being identified this way is how it grows to define you, whether you want it to or not.…
When you're early in product discovery, there's more noise than signal. Sometimes priorities jump out at you, but sometimes you need to step back and evaluate where you are before you move forward. You need to slow down to speed up. This is the case with the new project I'm working on. There are many people involved in the discovery phase. We're asking questions, researching, and sharing context…
How do you know when it’s time to rebuild an old app or just revise it? Rebuilding an existing application is a massive endeavor. It takes deep technical knowledge, design expertise, and the ability to manage project timelines and stakeholder expectations. When you’re rebuilding an existing application, progress can feel slower. Why? It takes a lot of work just to get the new foundation laid. And…
When you shape work for a given feature or project, you’re doing it from the perspective of the user—that is, a design perspective. So if you were to hand this work off to a developer, you’re crossing your fingers and hoping you didn’t miss any big technical issues. It’s plausible you have enough technical understanding and you side-stepped any land mines. Ultimately, though, you won’t know…
I had fun doing the recycling. This is what my 3-year-old said right before bed. After dinner, I asked him and his brother if they wanted to help me bring the recycling to the garage. We have a small blue bin that sits in the pantry, and it’s constantly overflowing. Normally I’d reluctantly make multiple trips once there is barely room to walk in the pantry. I made a different choice this time.…
I have a love-hate relationship with goals. Said better: I love them until I hate them. They give me direction, but when I come up short (even against a lofty goal), I get frustrated. No goal is better than the wrong goal, so I only set them when I’m certain it’s serving the impact I want. But there are three techniques I use to combat my common frustrations with goals. Identify the motivation.…
I want to be surrounded by books . They teach, inspire, and stoke curiosity. When I see all the bright colors, unique designs, and captivating titles, my energy immediately increases. The physical books act as anchors of inspiration, a constant reminder of the knowledge, wisdom, and lessons buried inside the pages. So when I say I want to be "surrounded by books", I'm not just talking about my…
Wins I launched my new brand and personal site. I started posting consistently on social again. I connected and reconnected with a lot of folks. I attended two conferences: Front-end Conf in St. Pete and Config in SF. I launched two (small) products: FramedThoughts and SimplyWords . I completed sessions: Building Better Products and Getting Started with Shape Up . I launched my newsletter, Build…
Managing a project is easy. Managing a project well is difficult. It’s far more art than science—and it’s certainly more than to-dos, schedules, and status updates. When you’re managing a project, you need to: Collect Context Curate Communication Collaborate Collectively Collect Context Information is power. And the information you need to manage a project comes from the context you’ve collected.…
For me, remote work > being in an office. I can build my workday around my natural rhythms, which sets me up to do my best work. Offices are designed to engineer serendipitous in-person connections. They are optimized for building relationships, not doing deep work. And cognitively demanding work is a solo endeavor. It requires putting your head down and focusing. Remote work in the right…
Here’s how I spark creativity: Get outside and walk. The physical movement creates mental movement, and being outside is always restorative for me. And if I really want to spark creativity, getting out into real nature is always the best remedy. There’s no problem that can withstand a good walk outside in nature while thinking deeply on it. Set constraints to work within. It feels like a paradox,…
Leadership and management are distinct forces. Leadership inspires vision, drives guidance, and fosters excellence. Management ensures communication, maintains tracking, and measures performance. Great leadership organically produces the outcomes we associate with management: Set a clear vision, and communication will naturally follow. Provide proper guidance, and tracking becomes streamlined.…
The only way to do great work is being detailed and pushing for the best. I was working with two developers on a new product. They were deep in the code and cranking out functionality. I continuously did product reviews and called out everything, from larger bugs to the smallest of design details. I felt bad. They were doing so much, and I was focusing on these small details. But when I gave them…
My wife and I started doing monthly day dates while the kids are at school. I take the day off from work and we get time to ourselves. And we came up with specific formats for the day to cover the “modes” were in: Play when we want creativity and fun. Pause when we want reflection and calm. The default mode is Work Mode : The continuous and repetitive process of doing work. This applies whether…
Early in my leadership career, I kept making the same mistake: I took on other people’s problems as my own. It’s not leadership. And it’s a recipe for burnout and stagnation, limiting my own growth and, more importantly, those I’m leading. If you don’t give someone the tools to solve their own problems, they never will. Even worse, if you keep solving problems for them, they’ll rely on you. I call…
A traditional 9-5 is a box—a rigid structure that stifles productivity and creativity. It’s designed for the collective, but we all have our own rhythms—when, where, and how we work best. Unlike a rigid office schedule, remote work gives you the freedom to design a workday that fits you—your natural rhythm, your energy, and your focus. Optimize for your energy Your energy isn’t constant. There are…
We live in a world driven by algorithms. Each piece of content we consume is meticulously curated—designed to reinforce our biases and keep us consuming passively. AI chats are always within reach, tempting us to accept easy answers without actually thinking them through. AI-generated content is everywhere, churning out impersonal, sterile products. In an AI world where outputs become increasingly…
Developing taste starts with awareness: being mindful and noticing the elements you interact with, the experiences you're part of, and the environments you inhabit. This includes software, physical products, and architecture. Pay attention to the moments: When you use a piece of software and it evokes positive (or negative) emotions. When you interact with a product and it helps you achieve your…
You don’t have to give up your craft to grow your career. You don't have to stop doing the work to manage others. You can grow your craft and your career. And you'll be a better leader when you keep refining your craft. It always happens the same way: the best designer, developer, or craftsperson tries to advance in their career. Some companies will tell them they can keep growing in their craft,…
There’s no shortcut to learning. In order to learn something, you have to actually do the thing. And frequently that means doing it for a long time before you get really good at it. My five-year-old recently proclaimed that he “knows how to drive.” He’s presumably saying this because he’s watched us drive a car while sitting in the backseat. Even though he’s never done it, he feels like he has…
AI is transforming the classic product trio: product manager, designer, engineer. The roles are blending as AI closes the skill gap for each specialty. Designers can use AI tools to create working prototypes of their designs; engineers can create designs to code; and product managers can do everything in between. Heck, each role can do what they enjoy and use AI to handle the rest. I believe we’re…
The “Hill Chart” is one of my favorite ways to represent the progress of work. This concept originated from Jason Fried and the team at 37signals . I don’t trust percentage completions. I want to know how the team feels about the work. The Hill Chart helps clarify that progress. It’s a representation of the team's collective intuition, knowledge, and experience. And you can’t represent that with a…
My kids don’t understand boredom. Their time is filled with nonstop activities and screens. But boredom is valuable—it’s a skill to cultivate. I’m teaching them this concept because they need to both understand and appreciate it. Easier said than done, I know! When I discussed this with a coworker, they commented that boredom is useful for kids. I believe it's beneficial for adults, too. Boredom…
In the days when landline phones were ubiquitous, the “busy signal” was a familiar occurrence—a quick beep indicating the person you were trying to reach was on another call. It was a clear sign to try again later. This concept can be applied to our approach towards knowledge work. Saying “busy” often masks deeper issues in our work. It signals that the work at hand might lack impact, meaning, or…
Some of the most monumental discoveries were made by accident. Wilhelm Röntgen accidentally discovered X-rays in 1895. Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin in 1928. Percy Spencer accidentally discovered microwaves for cooking food in 1945. In addition to their accidental nature, the significance of these discoveries wasn’t realized immediately. Fleming published his findings in…
We’re in the fourth week of development on a new 0-1 product. My initial excitement is transforming into pressure to meet the design standards I expect. Despite using technologies that provide a solid design foundation, our current UI does not reflect the final product's aesthetics. While I’m tempted to jump in and refine the UI immediately, I understand the importance of timing in the development…
When confronted with difficult problems, we tend to limit our thinking based on our own mental models and experiences. These shape our perception of the world. To diversify our thinking, we need to forcibly adopt different perspectives. This approach enables us to explore various mental models and generate creative solutions to problems. Typically, this is achieved through collaboration and…
Building new features and managing tech debt is a tough balance. Introducing new features increases the surface area of the codebase, which in turn increases the likelihood of bugs, regressions, and instability. This grows over time as more features are built. But new features are fun to build! Clients and customers love the additional functionality. And it’s natural to want more. But there is a…
How do you get a team to deliver work on time? Constraints & Controls. Delivering anything on time begins with setting a constraint: a deadline or a fixed amount of time allocated to the task. This is how much time you’re willing to put toward the solution. Timelines often go off track because initial estimates are just that — estimates. While you can improve estimation accuracy with experience,…
What advice do you have for an early career developer? You don’t have to know everything. The technology landscape is vast and constantly evolving. Focus on understanding foundational concepts and principles, such as logic flow, data flow, and state management. These skills transfer easily across different technologies and domains. Soft skills are as essential as hard skills. The best developers…
In the show Silicon Valley (on HBO), the character Gavin Belson showed a slide that read “Failure = Success”. It was meant as a joke, but I think, with a small adjustment, the equation isn’t a joke. Hear me out. Failure + Learning + Iteration = Success Failure is a prerequisite for success. The path to success is not only paved with failures, but also the lessons and iterations that arise from…
I once tackled a massive overhaul of a marketing site and web application, going deep into the codebase to revise every line of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There were hundreds of unique screens, each needing a rewrite, testing, and responsive design. Despite my love for the work, the vast scope and repetition soon sapped my energy. A particularly grueling day felt like an endless slog through thick…
I’ve been writing content for 60 consecutive days. I’ve crafted and shared over 100 pieces of original posts, images, and videos across Twitter and LinkedIn. I’d like to talk about the journey so far, including a huge realization I came to. Common advice around content creation is to focus on one niche. Figure out your unique position and lean into it. But that wasn't working for me. I’m a…
Multitasking is a lie. There can only be one true priority. Write a Priority Statement to set your intention each day. What you are going to do (the task / goal / objective) When you are going to do it (the time you have blocked) Where you are going to do it (location) Who you are working with (if needed) Why you are doing it (get clear on why it’s important) Example: I’m going to rebuild my…
The phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" often carries a negative connotation. However, the lesser-known ending of this saying, "...but oftentimes better than a master of one," highlights the inherent value of being a generalist, particularly evident in the age of AI. Being a generalist is a superpower. Why? Generalists navigate through multiple fields, bringing innovative solutions and…
Challenged assumptions fuel discovery. As we accumulate knowledge and experience, our minds form assumptions. These assumptions help us navigate the world, but they pose a risk of leading us astray when left unchallenged. It's essential to step back and ask: Is this an assumption, or is it based on concrete evidence? It's easy to assume we know how users interact with our software. The reality,…
Should we let customer feedback guide our product decisions, or is there merit in trusting our gut and the collective intuition of the team? Relying only on customer demands and feature requests can lead us down the wrong path, clouding product vision, slowing product growth, and even diluting team culture. My journey has seen its share of detours, especially during my tenure at companies where…
Momentum is everything. Imagine a single domino setting off a chain reaction; this is momentum at work. It's about moving forward, regardless of the obstacles, and embracing each small victory. This steady drive turns vision into reality, fueling us with purpose and the determination to overcome challenges. Building momentum flourishes with collaboration. When like-minded individuals unite, their…
Spend time expressing appreciation for those you work with. Pay attention to the details: the manner in which they write their comments, their skill in using emojis, their attentiveness when others speak, the insightful questions they pose, and specific parts of a project where their hard work is evident. Don't just publicly praise them for a significant achievement. Seek them out individually and…
I've enjoyed reading the Slack release notes for years. Aside from their creative writing and humor, I've pondered why I find them so appealing. It's a narrative about craftsmanship and the art of creation. Someone, or perhaps a team, puts time into writing these release notes. They could easily write "Bug fixes and performance improvements" like most other release notes. However, they choose not…
We’re in an overbooked, meeting-first culture that keeps everyone “busy” and not focused on doing the work and delivering value. Establishing rules for your calendar is essential to protecting your time and energy. It prompts mindfulness about how you use and allocate your time, helping you negotiate and adjust your schedule based on your priorities and energy levels. Here are the rules I set for…
I thrive at the crossroads of being a maker and a manager. This intersection, rather than being a point of conflict, has become a source of strength and innovation. I've always been passionate about creating and constructing something tangible and impactful. Simultaneously, I've been drawn to leadership and management roles. They provide satisfaction by steering teams and projects towards success,…
Focus on the journey, not just the destination. Here are three essential practices while working towards a goal: Share your progress. Embrace the chaos of creation by sharing your works in progress. It's not just about the end product — it's the journey that counts. Be vocal about the decisions, the pivots, and the progress. This transparency invites feedback and drives iteration. Save your work.…
Learning to lead without an ego means embracing vulnerability. The vulnerability to share your emotions. Being a leader doesn't mean you are immune to fear or insecurity. It's okay to share these feelings with your team. Doing so can create a safe space for everyone to openly discuss their challenges and fears, fostering a culture of empathy and mutual support. The vulnerability to say "I don't…