SWLW #577: Mindful and Mindless Work, Career Decisions, and more.

As every Friday, I share my best findings for the week.

 

This Week's Favorite

Ask Questions, Repeat the Hard Parts, and Listen
7 minutes read.

This post by Michael Lopp should be a must-read for every manager with over a couple of years of experience (after the initial surviving mode is over): "My next strategy. Repeat the complex parts of the problem. There are two reasons I’m doing this. First, if this were an easy and uncomplicated decision, you would’ve already made it. There is intricate detail to be understood here, and humans, especially when stressed, are fantastic at glossing over intricate details, so I will repeat any part that I feel might need more clarification. Barring that, I’ll repeat what I consider critical parts of this decision. Second, I’m stalling for time. I still really want you to decide. It happens less than during question and answer time, but frequently when I clarify a missing detail or restate a core thesis, you decide"

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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Culture

Founders After a Full Day of Public Speaking and Networking
1 minute read.

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

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How We Developed Our Vision, Mission, and Strategy
7 minutes read.

Matt Hodges shares a process you can follow to capture, align, and articulate your company's Vision, Mission, and Strategy. With slight adjustments, you can use it to figure out your department's Vision, Mission, and Strategy to build a narrative, stories, and key initiatives to help you align everyone to execute effectively.

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13 Years Ago Today, I Launched Buffer. I Thought It Could Be Fun to Share 13 Fun Facts Which Demonstrate Our Longevity Mindset and the Impact It Has on Both the Product and the Team.
4 minutes read.

I've been following Joel Gascoigne and his startup Buffer from the early days as they chose a unique path when building their company that wasn't popular back then (e.g. working in public, sharing revenue numbers, etc.). There are so many ways to create a successful business that impacts many lives. Joel inspired me to think of companies like you're thinking of products.

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Unshackling Artificial Minds
4 minutes read.

"It's a lesson we've learned time and again: humans are at their best when they feel they have plenty. Scarcity breeds fear, protectionism, violence. But the truth is, the universe is a treasure trove, and knowledge is the key that unlocks infinite resources." -- It's tough to tell when and if AGI will be a solution to a better life or to take us out of the game. This is mostly hard as AGI is not well defined, but like Product-Market-Fit, we'll probably "see it when we see it." Are you excited for what's coming?

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Jobs [sponsored]

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Peopleware

Mindful and Mindless Work
3 minutes read.

Esko Kilpi on the role of leadership today in the Software industry (and many others): "Mindful work sees things differently. In the post-industrial, post-fossil world, we have to reconstruct the relation of means to ends. This is partly because the negative externalities that businesses create are going to be factored in the total net impact calculation of value created and/or destroyed. [...] The future of work has to be based on willing, and mindful, participation by all parties."

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Career Decisions
5 minutes read.

This post by Elad Gil is still my go-to post when sharing it with friends who want to find their first role in the industry. I try to help them switch from reactive mode ("I'll submit to 100 companies and hope for the best") to proactive mode ("I did some research and found 10 interesting companies, now I need to raise above the noise somehow").

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Who Took a Bet on You?
1 minute read.

As the year ends, this is a great question to ask and send them a thank you message. Is there someone you want to take a bet on next year?

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@khemaridh: Happiness = Reality - Expectations

@NavalismHQ: A vacation is a very expensive way to schedule the time to read a book in peace.



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.