build for change, or die quietly
a field guide for founders unlearning institutional instincts and building companies that can adapt faster than the market moves
lowercase opinions \ by maria
Latest posts
silent overextension
you can see operational complexity accumulating long before anything breaks
rethinking rituals
From chaos to cohesion: how rituals can help navigate growing pains in startups.
doing too much
Relentless effort kills velocity. Let’s prioritise and build more resilient organisations.
compliments
Compliments are a powerful, positive, affirming motivational tool. They are the easiest kind of feedback to deliver. They’re basically free! And they can help take the edge off that impostor syndrome.
TLDR
Crisp, clear communication gets other people to hear what you need them to know.
culture fit: wtf?
Culture fit is a massively overburdened term. Let’s unpick the spectre and making these “vibes” concrete, so they can help us make good and fair decisions.
building a self-developing leadership team
Your leadership team isn't just a bunch of smart people: it's a team. Nurture each other, develop yourselves, and keep growing together.
(eleven) startup lessons
Having spent eleven years working in startups, here are some of the (sometimes contradictory, generally applicable) things that I’ve learned.
you don’t need a career plan
You’re very welcome to have one. But if you don’t, here are two alternative ways to think about your career (from someone who has built a career with no Plan).
reading list
I read a lot. If you want to be a better leader, or a better People & Culture professional, you might enjoy this varied non-fiction reading list.
enjoyable meetings
Meetings ARE work. But they often suck. A conceptual and tactical rundown of the whys, and how to improve them — by gathering deliberately and purposefully.
better feedback
Wanna come on a treasure hunt? Shrugging off the instinctive dread of feedback, and asking for more.
idle chatter
Chatter is the most underrated organisational tool that works the hardest. “Wasting time” to shoot the breeze is an unexpectedly worthwhile investment.
useful values
From live-laugh-love to Kant, Bentham & Aristotle. We can better articulate company values, and make them a genuinely useful tool, if we borrow frameworks from the discipline of ethics. Trust me, I’m a philosopher.
mental health
A perhaps-overly-personal perspective.
better job ads
Do we even know what we’re actually hiring for? Let’s map the real-life actual job into the bulleted list on a careers page, so that we can start better.
résumé advice
Applying for jobs is dispiriting, and quite frankly often really sucks. I’ve pulled together some tips for your next CV revamp, focussed on showcasing your best self.
on criticism, and accepting it gracefully
Building a virtuous circle of learning by appreciating the criticism we get.
play
How can we find work-life balance when they keep pushing hustle culture into our free time? Let's play more.