SWLW #388:  Heuristics for effective management, How startups should think about capital efficiency and more

I hope that you and your family are doing well, and you are able to find a new rhythm in this hard situation. As always, below you can read my best findings for the week -
 

This Week's Favorite

​​Failed #SquadGoals: Spotify Doesn’t Use “the Spotify Model” and Neither Should You.
6 minutes read.

Learn and experiment with various processes and methodologies, but always match it to the people you have and the culture you nurtured. Watch out from Process Theater - forcing everyone to play a game they don't want to that sounds great on paper yet counter-productive to your needs.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.

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Culture

“Wait, Leia, I Think You’re Still on Mute”
1 minute read.

My humble effort to help you start the weekend with a smile on your face, even in this difficult time.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


The Burn Multiple: How Startups Should Think About Capital Efficiency
6 minutes read.

David Sacks shares a practical and short framework to follow, if you want to understand better how your startup is doing. This framework is important to learn regardless of your position or title, so you'll have a good way to measure the health of the company you're part of - "Too many startups report their growth without contextualizing it as a function of investment."

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
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I’m a Latinx Startup Founder, and This Is What I Learned About Making a Company Truly Inclusive
6 minutes read.

Elias Torres, the CTO of Drift, with an inspiring post I hope more companies will follow: "Too often, companies approach diversity and inclusion like dental hygiene. Without proper care and attention, small problems become bigger, more painful ones. And instead of treating causes at the root, we try to fill vacancies with diversity hires as if they were cavities."

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You Can Make Everyone in the World Understand One Fallacy. Which Fallacy Do You Choose? (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Interesting question to ask by Mckay Wrigley. What would you like to team to understand? Your company? If they understood it, how will it make them more connected to the mission and the people around them?

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Peopleware

Approximately Correct
5 minutes read.

Joseph Jude wrote one of my favorite blog posts this week: "Life is a dance of the probabilities. If you wait for certainties, you will lose opportunities; instead, aspire to be approximately correct. You'll enjoy building the life of your dreams. I mostly do." -- I also loved reading Joseph's principles, so give it a few more minutes and see if it inspires you to write your own. I wrote mine a couple of years ago, and it helped me think more deeply into the type of interactions, relationships, and work I want to do.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.


Manager's Playbook: Heuristics for Effective Management
8 minutes read.

Kamil Sindi with impressive takeaways and resources on management. I highly recommend you to skim it and dive deeper where you feel like now.

Read it later via Pocket or Instapaper.
Share it via Twitter or email.

And finally, inspiring tweets...

@TaylorPearsonMe: ROI on meetings are extremely fat-tailed. Most are a waste, but done properly, they are extremely valuable. Things that seem to help: (1) Pre-established agenda (w/ prep work) (2) No distractions - phone/Slack/etc. (3) Take Notes w/ Action Steps

@kelseyhightower: I'm convinced the majority of people managing infrastructure just want a PaaS. The only requirement: it has to be built by them.



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p.s.2 are you leading a team of engineers? Write your Manager Readme or get my book Leading Snowflakes: The New Engineering Manager Handbook.

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Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.