Your pencils are sharp enough
March 22, 2023
We’ve learned that there are two types of work that are the most prone to getting stuck like this. And there are different tools we’ve found helpful for getting them unstuck.
World's Best Newsletter Archive
This will only take a minute
March 8, 2023
You can’t live in hypervigilance. Well, let’s rephrase that. You can, it’s possible. But it’s unpleasant to be around someone who has stayed in that state for too long.
You can’t stand under my umbrella
February 22, 2023
Staring down a difficult reality and finding your way to acceptance is hard enough. But having a manager conceal that reality from you makes acceptance impossible.
My milkshake brings all the orgs to the yard
January 25, 2023
Someone else’s goals might be eloquently written, but that doesn’t mean they matter to you. Someone else’s values statement might seem so clear-eyed and attractive, but that doesn’t make it yours.
You need more of it than you think
December 28, 2022
When your brain learns that there are blocks of time when it can reliably expand and take on bigger things, it’s astonishing what happens.
The strategists, the smugglers, and the silent
November 30, 2022
Effective strategic planning is an alignment tool. Alignment as in the whole team. Everyone.
The Clapback
May 18, 2022
Anywhere your senior leaders are not giving their full-throated support to a thing, you should be prepared for a clapback.
Pretend it’s a business
May 4, 2022
Faced with an extended stay in the squishy place, a lot of execs are opting out. They are making decisions with the information they’ve got. Trading liminal for solid ground anywhere they can find it. And, for a lot of workplaces, shit is about to get real.
The donuts aren’t working
April 6, 2022
We’re hearing from the bosses and people and culture teams asked to implement the Bums-in-Seats directive. Even when they, themselves, are skeptical.
You only get punked when you don’t expect it
February 9, 2022
If we’re right about this prediction, the amount of energy coming at you is going to be intense. The question to ask is: do you have somewhere for that energy to go?
How to predict the future
December 29, 2021
Assumptions and predictions are two tools to get at the same thing. Both try to crystallize how you think about the world today, in case it changes. But writing down an assumption is passive, it’s descriptive. Making a prediction is active.
We didn’t build *that* Better boss
December 15, 2021
People send us the links in part because, haha, you build better bosses. Here’s the literal CEO of Better and seems like he could have used some management training. Hardy har har. But some of them also want to know, “Is this normal?” And if so, how often does this happen? And why?
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