SWLW #423: Manager OKRs & Maker OKRs, Doing Old Things Better vs. Doing Brand New Things, and more.

Happy new year 2021, I hope you'll treat us better than 2020.

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

​​Doing Old Things Better vs. Doing Brand New Things
3 minutes read.

I think Chris Dixon's post is more relevant than ever in a post-COVID-19 world. While we don't know the long-lasting effect, it's clear that some behaviors will change, and with that, we'll need to think of new tools and practices. For example, a hybrid working mode will become much more acceptable and standard. I wouldn't hurry to copy the tools that remote-only companies are using. I would assume that everyone has a solid work environment (and good internet setup) at home. How would you approach 1:1s, feedback reviews, office gathering, planning meetings, etc.?

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

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Culture

When This Is All Done
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.
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Why Your Company Is Slowing Down and How to Fix It
6 minutes read.

"Standardizing bad practices hobbles growth. No structure is chaos. Too much structure is suffocating." -- Michael Williams will make you stop and think about fighting Organizational Entropy in your company. Ask your teammates where you should put more focus and energy. What should be standardized? What should remain loose? Which anchors are worth setting now to change behaviors and outcomes?

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


Manager OKRs, Maker OKRs: How Early Stage Startups Should Think About Goal-Setting
4 minutes read.

Hunter Walk shares an interesting framework worth considering when considering planning for the short term and long term. Using it as anchors can help the team scale. The team knows where to focus today while still understanding the grand vision of the team's products.

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


Team Initiatives — Stop Starting and Start Finishing
5 minutes read.

Dennis Nerush offers a methodology you can use to nurture ideas and get more of them to the finish line: "From my experience, team behavior and processes are pretty hard to change, and too often than not, we end up sticking with old habits."

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

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Peopleware

How to Hire Great Product Managers
7 minutes read.

Hiring Product Managers is difficult as they should gel teams around them to work well together. I enjoyed (and bookmarked!) Jackie Bavaro's approach, questions, and areas to pay attention to as it makes it easier to build the profile you're searching for. It helps you prepare for interviews and measure the quality of answers. Share it internally. I'm sure people will appreciate it.

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


How to Make Your Code Reviewer Fall in Love With You
12 minutes read.

Michael Lynch's post should probably be part of your onboarding reading list for new engineers. Beautifully written.

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


So You Want to Be a COO
7 minutes read.

Cori Land's post can serve you well if you're considering growing into a COO position, and you're still unsure what it means and which skills you should practice. Once you have a clearer image of your strengths and passion, you'll need to find the CEO you can work alongside in a way that will make you both better: "When contemplating a COO role, you must understand the CEO’s role, responsibilities, preferences, style, and personality. Once you have a sense of the CEO, you’ll have a much better sense of what activities you’ll lead as their foil."

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

And finally, inspiring tweets...

@ohadsamet: Something I've had to learn as a self-important 27 year old manager: no one reads your clever, carefully crafted 4000-word Letters From The Front Lines. Learn to communicate well and briefly, and then repeat repeat repeat. I'm still working on that.

@GiladPeleg: A chaos meeting bot: Like chaos engineering but a bot that randomly cancels meetings, sometimes even a couple of minutes in advance, to see how resilient your org is to less meetings



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 and my work by becoming a SWLW Patron. Thank you ❤️




Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.