Sometimes simply writing things down and then methodically reviewing your lists can be a superpower.
“It is easier to judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
-Pierre-Marc-Gaston de Lévis
#Quotes
Remember to always ask “how will this simplify things?”
For example: before you buy that retro mechanical keyboard that looks exactly like your childhood Commodore 64.
“Listening is the engine of ingenuity. It’s difficult to understand desires and detect problems, much less develop elegant solutions, without listening.”
-Kate Murphy (no relation 😁)
#Quotes
“It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.”
-Paul Graham
#Quotes
“The most effective communicators pause before they speak and ask themselves: Why am I opening my mouth?”
-Charles Duhigg
#Quotes
“Users don’t evangelize to their friends because they like the product, they evangelized their friends because they like their friends.”
-Kathy Sierra
#Quotes
A good strategy (according to Rumelt) has 3 parts:
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The diagnosis - framing the challenge
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The guiding policy - the approach to dealing with the issues in the diagnosis
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Coherent Actions - the actions, resource commitments, and policies needed to carry out the guiding policy
Strategy is a cohesive response to an important challenge (Richard Rumelt).
This is a phenomenal distillation of the concept.
“Creativity is just problem solving”
“Creativity is just problem solving. Once people see it as problem solving, it stops seeming like magic, because it’s not. Brokers are just people who pay more attention to what problems look like and how they’ve been solved before. People who are most creative are the ones who have learned that feeling scared is a good sign. We just have to learn how to trust ourselves enough to let the creativity out.”
-Ed Catmull
#Quotes
Remember: If you compliment someone else’s dog, it really is ok if they’re not gracious about it.
It shouldn’t change a thing for you - or the dog.
“Be careful not to overcomplicate your systems to the point where you can only maintain them when you are at your peak of mental clarity.”
-the David Allen Company
#Quotes
“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.”
-Coleman Cox
#Quotes
In what sort of future do you want to live?
Having that small sweet with your morning coffee makes it marginally less likely you’ll eat the healthy bowl of oatmeal later.
Think about how small decisions make actions easier or harder for your future self.
Remember:
Empathize with your clients.
Understand their needs as thoroughly as possible before proposing any solutions.
Always back your recommendations with evidence.
“Computers fail, checklists fail, everything can fail. But people can’t. We have to make decisions, and that includes deciding what deserves our attention. The key is forcing yourself to think. As long as you’re thinking, you’re halfway home.”
-Richard Champion de Crespigny
#Quotes
“By far the dominant reason for not releasing sooner was a reluctance to trade the dream of success for the reality of feedback.”
-Kent Beck
#Quotes
There are no silver bullets
“Every tool you use impacts your abilities while using that tool. It increases some capabilities while decreasing others.
For example, a chimp fishing for ants with a stick can’t use her hand for another purpose while holding that stick.”
-David Kadavy
Tools perform specific functions, ideally useful ones.
Good tools perform their functions efficiently and are often cheaper, faster, simpler, and/or better than alternatives.
Great tools are transformative. Notable examples include sharpened stones, metal lathes, maps, and alphabets.
The proverbial hammer is great for driving steel nails into wood. But even the best hammer can’t help if the blueprints are wrong.
You say you want your product managers to write better user stories? Changing your word processor won’t help much.
Tools don’t magically fix broken processes, dysfunctional leadership, misaligned incentives, or training gaps.
See also:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.”
-Mary Oliver
#Quotes
“It is what you read when you dont have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
-Oscar Wilde
#Quotes