Hi, welcome to the team. I’m so glad you are here at $COMPANY. It’s going to take a solid quarter to figure this place out. I understand the importance of first impressions, and I know you want to get a check in the win column, but this is a complex place full of equally complex… More
iPhone Home Screen – Year in Review
The first page of my home screen for my iPhone is a sacred real estate. It is the one screen where I carefully curate my apps. Placement and grouping are considered because the apps on my first screen are daily use apps. Here it is: Because real estate is precious, each year I perform an… More
Meeting Blur
Wednesday afternoon. 3:30. Tanya and I walking through a complex political scenario involving Product and Engineering. Nothing devious. Just complex. Many moving parts. I’ve had some version of this conversation five times today. The whiteboard is my savior. I’m using it to draw a picture that anchors the core points of the situation. Those core… More
A Meritocracy is a Trailing Indicator
When you are asked as a manager “What do I need to get to the next level?” I suggest the quality and completeness of your answer is directly correlated to your effectiveness as a leader. Let’s start with the worst answer, “We’re a meritocracy where the best idea wins.” This is a bullshit cop-out answer.… More
A Privacy Choice
I departed Safari several years ago for performance and stability issues. Too often, I was finding myself in a situation where Safari was wedged or just plain slow. As the majority of my time is spent staring at a browser, this was unacceptable, so I moved to Chrome. Yeah, the typography rendering wasn’t as good,… More
Fidget Bliss
I’m the guy who sits next to you at the meeting whose right leg won’t stop moving. If one leg isn’t tap tap tapping, look to my hands because it is likely my finger tips are exploring the shape of a Zebra Sarasa .5 (Black), or that same pen is wildly spinning around my fingers.… More
What To Do When Your Plane’s Engine Catches Fire
A number of passengers lingered by the plane to take selfies with the burning engine in the background. They had no information that should have given them confidence that the plane wasn’t going to explode and shower them with fiery metal if they stuck around. Protip: forego selfies.
(Via Quartz)
From the 2016 Panic Report
Via Panic Blog:
Defining roles is important What happens when you’re truly a “flat” organization and you have a bunch of incredibly smart people that can all offer valuable input on almost every task happening at any one time? Things can actually slow down a little at times. You want the right people on the right tasks, and you want someone who can make tough decisions and process the possibilities. It’s possible we’ve outgrown complete flatness. We’ll be experimenting with this more into the future, although it’s so tricky — you don’t want people feeling excluded, and you don’t want to extinguish the passion of creating!
Your Culture is Rotting
Whoever came up with the name “Human Resources” deserves a medal. Such a descriptive, helpful, and seemingly useful name. Why yes, I’m human and I sure could use some resources. Purely viewed by the name, Humans Resources or HR seems like such a great idea. These are the people who are responsible for looking after… More
Rands Response Hierarchy
The arrival of Slack1 changed my communication regimen. On top of Slack being the primary means of communicating at Slack, the Leadership Slack at 3000+ members represents a daily part of how I communicate. There are a great many ways to get in touch with me. With the establishment of Slack as a primary means… More