SWLW #624: Strategy as a series of beliefs, How to identify your own Superpowers, and more.

Like always, sharing my best findings for the week.  

 

This Week's Favorite

How to Identify Your Own Superpowers — And Why It Matters (Video)
13 minutes read.

"So learn from everywhere, but first learn from within." -- Shreyas Doshi recommends we look deeper into the actions (small or large) and activities that fill our energy tank. What feels like play to us and work to others? We can ask others who know us and have "good taste" what they see, but be careful not to take it as absolute truth but rather as an observation. Learning to rely on ourselves more than our surroundings takes time. Be kind to yourself.

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Culture

Legacy Software Companies Adding an AI Chatbot to Their Product
1 minute read.

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

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Strategy as a Series of Beliefs
5 minutes read.

Dave Kellogg with an eye-opening post on how to take the "Good Strategy, Bad Strategy" framework one step forward: "add beliefs to the framework. More precisely, separate the diagnosis into present truths and future beliefs. [...] find the one primary belief [of future state] for your current situation." -- This can ease the transition between the phases and help tell a story that will resonate better.

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An Alternative to OKRs: How to Set and Achieve Ambitious Goals
13 minutes read.

I took many ideas from Ravi Mehta on how to improve OKRs (if you cannot replace them) - Using Naratives as Objectives and picking Key Results at the "frontier of understanding" (and risk). I can see myself using that to plan next year better, landing at ambitious yet achievable goals to drive healthy execution momentum.

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For a Long Time, I Had Very Naive Ideas About Prioritization. Here's What I've Learned Over the Years.
6 minutes read.

I highly recommend reading John Cutler's thoughts on prioritization, including the conversation in the comments section. Given a constraint on the overall budget (as often management and then the board needs to approve it), you can have a high level investment framework and enable teams to optimize local priorities for each investment that was decided. It doesn't solve the tension and conflicts between different investments. The team needs to learn the framework and tradeoffs the organization is making and figure out effective ways to reduce the burden these conflicts create.

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Peopleware

Lessons From Peter Thiel
6 minutes read.

"Take the time to listen to smart people with whom you disagree." is maybe one of the best advice we can try hard to follow (it is indeed hard) as it provides a window into our core beliefs and reasoning. It helps us understand if we're seeking truth or if we seek to win the argument.

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Keith Rabois - How to Hire (Video)
40 minutes read.

Keith Rabois shares so many gems on hiring top talent, without sugarcoating a sentence. I watched it twice this week to put his insights in my own words so I could recall them better.

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It’s Never Too Late to Start Building
3 minutes read.

As someone who turned 40 this year, I found this list very comforting. The older you get, though, the more I can sense the Innovator's Dilemma shifting into the Founder's Dilemma - how much are you willing to change your ways and shed some of your safety nets to take the bet?

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@erica_wenger: Last decade: technical founders have the edge. Next decade: storytelling founders have the edge

@deedydas: Palantir gave new hires these books on Day 1: (1) Impro - Johnstone (2) The Looming Tower - Wright (3) Interviewing Users - Portigal (4) Getting Things Done - Allen (5) Principles - Ray Dalio. Books are a cheap, easy way to build culture. Above all else, it says "we read books here".



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.