SWLW #495: Apple won't go back to the office, Navigating down markets, and more

Heya,

As always, below you can read my best findings for the week. If you want to support my work or join SWLW community in Slack - scroll down to the bottom of the email to see how.
 

This Week's Favorite

​​Apple Won't Go Back to the Office
5 minutes read.

"Something has changed — employees figure out a new way to work (and live). At first, employers, office managers, and landlords tried to ignore it and hoped things would just go back to normal on their own. Then, they got angry and tried to force people back. Now, they're bargaining. Next up, depression and acceptance." -- Dror Poleg is spot on with his analysis of how employees will drive the market in the new few years.

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Culture

The Binary Tree Actually Exists!
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face.

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How Big Companies Kill Ideas and How to Fight Back
18 minutes read.

I enjoyed reading this interview with Tony Fadell as it's so intense and to the point. Figuring out how to pass his incredible insights comes straight from the heart: "I woke up one day and realized the only reason why I am sitting here — and able to talk to you and so many people — is because of the successes due to mentorship offered by various people along my career. All these things we have done are because people helped me. I thought about who those people were, and most of them had died, and I was like, Wait a second. I’m not getting any younger. I think the baton has been passed to me; I have to give back just like people gave to me, without any financial reward."

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A Framework for Navigating Down Markets
6 minutes read.

No matter which position you take in the company right now, understanding how the atmosphere in the market will shift and challenge your company is essential. You can leverage the timing to know how to suggest ideas and lead initiatives that can help the company.

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Building a Team's Culture
6 minutes read.

Understanding group dynamics and how to hire and retain the right people is easier said than done. We often confuse vanity metrics (measuring things that sound good but are meaningless) for progress. Asaf David frames it nicely: "The basic idea of a team is leverage."

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Peopleware

Management at PlanetScale
3 minutes read.

I'm a huge fan of setting expectations early and explicitly (there is a reason why I built managerreadme.com). I love how Sam Lambert (CEO of PlanetScale) decided to write the expectations for managers in the org. Having this mindset top-down is the right approach to signal to candidates the management team cares about it.

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As Segment Grew From 0 to >$200M ARR, I Had Three Health Scares. Each Scare Made Me Realize That Good Physical Health Is *Required* to Push Hard and Win as a Founder, and You Have to Own Your Own Healthcare. The Medical System Simply Won’t Do It for You. (Thread)
3 minutes read.

"Startups are a decade plus ultramarathon, and your physical health is what enables you to run it. " -- I enjoy following Peter Reinhardt (ex-CEO of Segment) as he's willing to talk about the areas very few talk openly about. It takes a lot of courage and vulnerability to share the pains.

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I Spent 2 Years Launching Tiny Projects
4 minutes read.

Ben Stokes is a true builder. I think you can get a lot of inspiration to improve your skills and practice them on your job. May it be an employee, solo-maker, consultant, or other employment form. Learning to build something that people want may sound trivial, but it's challenging to do right: how much to listen to others while building your view of the world. This balancing act is not trivial.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@amokranechentir: Burn-out comes when there is a disconnect between the value that you think you are bringing, compared to how management/leadership perceives it. You end up thinking: all that hard work for nothing, and start developing apathy for everything.

@GergelyOrosz: A common mistake of many first-time CTOs or VP of Engineerings: Mandating that all engineering teams in their organization start working {the same way using methodology X}. They usually feel this is a big win for them, and the company. In reality: it's almost always a disaster.



p.s. if you're interested in joining SWLW's Slack channel, simply reply to this email and let me know.

If you're leading a team, consider writing your Manager README (it's free) or getting my e-book and interviews Leading Snowflakes: The New Engineering Manager's Handbook. You can also support me by becoming a SWLW Patron. Thank you ❤️




Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.