SWLW #426: Error Budgets and the legacy of Herbert Heinrich, Strategy Turns, and more.

Heya,

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

​​The Patient Change Agent
7 minutes read.

John Cutler's post is excellent at pointing out that being overly optimistic might take you on a dangerous path, almost as overly pessimistic. Making changes is hard in every organization. I'd try to find a support group that wants to help me make the change, propose a plan and see if we get an explicit "No" for it. Most of us never try to make a change, thinking that it won't happen anyway. Put your thoughts (use John's questions) to a test. Talk about it.

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Culture

Now This Is Patience....
1 minute read.

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

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Error Budgets and the Legacy of Herbert Heinrich
5 minutes read.

"I’m generally skeptical of metrics-based approaches, like error budgets, because they reify. The things that get measured are the things that get attention. I prefer to rely on qualitative approaches that leverage the experiment judgment of engineers." - I agree with Lorin Hochstein. Worth taking concepts such as Game Day Exercises (I've shared before a few posts about it) to plan and analyze your failure modes.

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I Just Gave a Talk to the W2021 YC Batch. It's My Favorite Startup Audience to Talk To. Here Are Some of the Highlights: (Thread)
4 minutes read.

Use this advice by Justin Kan with all the leaders in your org: "Make sure there are clear cofounder roles and a clear decision making structure. Have this conversation up front even if it is uncomfortable. With your cofounders, build trust through vulnerability, clear communication, clear areas of responsibility."

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Strategy Turns
4 minutes read.

Shawn Wang with one of my favorite reads this week. "Strategy Turns" is an excellent phrasing for something I've witnessed myself many times. Always start with your core principles as they rarely change. These can be for how you want to live your life, learn and create an impact in your professional career, or anything else. Ask for advice from people who have similar values and are 1-2 years ahead.

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Peopleware

Feedback
5 minutes read.

Josh Sloat will help you delivering feedback to others. These are great tips you should read before your next 1:1 or Feedback/Performance Review. I'd add a to make sure the receiver knows and feel that you're on their side. Feedback can wait until there is basic trust between the two of you.

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The Middle Slump: The Power of Weekly Project Goals
5 minutes read.

"Entropy is the natural order of things, and that presents challenges for all but the smallest projects. Progress is made when you have line of sight to your next goal. " -- Leeor Engel with a post that everyone who leads software projects should read. There are infinite tasks to do. Time will pass. It's how you frame it and build momentum in a sustainable manner that matters.

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And finally, inspiring tweets...

@fortelabs: A paradoxical thing about people who consistently choose the most high leverage activity is their efforts have a rough-edged, half-assed quality. Because polishing things to perfection is a low leverage activity

@Jobvo: Work is never over. To rest, you must stop. Don’t wait for a break in work.



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Keep reading, keep learning.
-- Oren Ellenbogen.