Does that matter?
Jason Fried, founder and CEO of Basecamp, published a great piece on Signal vs. Noise that I just stumbled upon thanks to Twitter. Being able to see what matters, to know what’s worth doing is an...
View ArticleThe Tragic Gap
Jessica Lawrence presenting “On leading” from PopTech. Many thanks to John Maeda for sharing on one of our internal leadership blogs. It’s a video well worth watching. A quote I particularly enjoyed:...
View ArticlePractical Thoughts on Career Progression
In the past, I’ve written about how I think about my career. In short, I look at three elements—Learn, Improve, and Impact. Provided those three boxes are checked, I’m moving in the right direction....
View ArticleClik here to view.
This is How I Work
I’m a huge fan of the Lifehacker series “How I Work.” They interview everyone from photographers to entrepreneurs to chefs and beyond looking at their workspace, favorite apps, etc. It’s highly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monthly Review: September 2016
I publish a monthly review of habits, work, etc. You’ll be able to find them all here. September was a pretty amazing month! I had a chance to get together with all of my amazing coworkers in Whistler,...
View ArticleOur Current Process for Handling Feedback
Yesterday, I read an article on NPR about performance reviews titled “Yay, It’s Time For My Performance Review! (Said No One Ever).” As you might expect from the title, the piece detailed where current...
View ArticlePractical Thoughts on Career Progression
In the past, I’ve written about how I think about my career. In short, I look at three elements—Learn, Improve, and Impact. Provided those three boxes are checked, I’m moving in the right direction....
View ArticleClik here to view.
This is How I Work
I’m a huge fan of the Lifehacker series “How I Work.” They interview everyone from photographers to entrepreneurs to chefs and beyond looking at their workspace, favorite apps, etc. It’s highly...
View ArticleThe Problem with “Constructive Feedback”
It’s hard to sound or be humble when saying, “I’ve got some constructive feedback for you.” This sounds like you’re saying that you know a truth that the other person doesn’t know, and you’re going to...
View ArticleTwo Leadership Lessons From Bill Walsh
Bill Walsh is the former head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and a Pro Football Hall of Fame member. When he took over the 49ers, they were without a doubt one of the worst teams in the NFL. In just...
View ArticleCal Newport—Quit Social Media
Cal Newport is one of my favorite authors. In particular, his book Deep Work is one of my favorites. I was already aware of Cal’s stance on social media, but I thought his TED talk broke down his main...
View ArticleI wasted 4 years of my life doing this
The traditional model of university education is broken. You jam four years of knowledge into your head and hope you can retrieve it later when you need it. (Even worse, it will cost you at least...
View ArticleShawn Blanc on Content Strategy
First and foremost: your content strategy should be focused on serving your audience. Does your content strategy have only the best in mind for your audience? Consider if your content strategy does the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Highs & Lows of Leading a Team
“I have up and down weeks. This week, I feel like I’m doing pretty shitty.” I recently had a 1-1 call with another lead from Automattic. We routinely pair up with other leads for several weeks at a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Building Team Camaraderie in a Remote Environment
I’m fortunate to work with a bunch of kickass individuals on a team at Automattic called Sparta. It’s semi-mandatory to own traditional Spartan garb; we pass around “This is Sparta” GIFs constantly;...
View ArticleBrené Brown on Empathy
Rarely, if ever, does an empathic response begin with “At least”…Someone just shared something with us that’s incredibly painful and we’re trying to silverlining it. Brené Brown discussing how to...
View ArticleTips for Effective 1-1’s
I’ve been really digging the information that Lighthouse has been putting out on their blog and the discussions they’ve started on their Twitter account. Recently, they posted this piece on having...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Getting the Right Things Done
I’m in the process of reading The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. One of the main threads in the book is “Know Thy Time.” The point is simple—effective individuals understand where their time is...
View ArticleYour Users Aren’t Exactly Like You
Working in Customer Support has provided a pretty unique view into user behavior. Namely, the users I support probably aren’t just like me. They have different habits, different ways of using...
View ArticleScott Belsky on Crafting the First Mile of a Product
This is a really great interview with Scott Belsky, cofounder of Behance, over on Design.blog. He hits on the “first mile” of a product—the initial interaction a user might have and why it’s so...
View Article