Getting the reps
Seen on Twitter: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle Both Drive and The Talent Code make the same point: Becoming a master isn’t about natural talent...
View ArticleCoaching and feedback
In my last post, I talked about getting the reps to improve oneself on desired skills. But it’s difficult to make the time for practice, especially for deliberate practice where we are always dancing...
View ArticleNurtureShock, by Po Bronson and Ashley Merriman
Book website Amazon link I’ve liked Po Bronson’s other books, like What should I do with my life?. I also really liked his New York magazine article called The Power (and Peril) of Praising Your Kids,...
View ArticleIncremental steps towards uselessness
Last night, I attended the Mountain View Linchpin Meetup, inspired by Seth Godin’s blog post (speaking of which, I need to review Godin’s book Linchpin at some point). Spending an evening with a group...
View ArticleUnderstanders vs. Fixers
I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about what we thrived on in a job, and it was interesting to see how our perspectives differed. She talked about the thrill of fixing a problem,...
View ArticleEncouraging useful failure
One particular issue I’ve been thinking about with startup vs. big company culture (and that is referred to in a comment on my last post as well as comments over on Facebook) is how to encourage useful...
View ArticlePrincipled Leadership
I like thinking about how to scale a company without making it feel like a big company. The standard way to scale a company is to use hierarchy and process to manage the larger scale – big decisions...
View ArticleThe limits of rationality
I’ve started occasionally listening to Rationally Speaking podcast, a production of the New York City Skeptics. What’s funny is that part of the reason I listen to it is that I get into arguments (in...
View ArticleThe Anthropology of Innovation panel
Last week, the Computer History Museum hosted a panel on “The Anthropology of Innovation”. I had to attend since I’m a fan of anthropology, I’m fascinated by corporate culture and how it leads to goals...
View ArticleCareer development in the 21st century
It’s performance review time at Google, and that means that I am reassuring the young’uns in their mid-20s that it’s all going to be fine. They have been at the top of their class their entire life,...
View ArticleDon’t act like a special snowflake
Disclaimer: This post is not about you. Please do not take offense. It is an exaggerated amalgam of people for the sake of making a point. Over the past several months, I have talked to a number of...
View ArticleIt’s not about you
Last year, I was at my sister’s house one morning and playing with my toddler niece. I did something, and my niece burst into tears. I started apologizing and frantically saying “What did I do? What...
View ArticleThe Rise of Superman, by Steven Kotler
Amazon link Book website This book examines the extreme limits of human performance, delving into the world of action-adventure athletes who are redefining what is possible. It tells of big wave...
View ArticleThere are no shortcuts
I was having an email thread recently with a friend where she pointed me at this article on the middle class getting ripped off. I don’t agree with most of the article, but this quote stuck out to me:...
View ArticleChallenging oneself
In my last post, I talked about instigating unhappiness as a way to spur change at organizations. I’ve also been thinking about it in a personal context of challenging myself, and when I should be...
View ArticleThe challenge of humanity
[This is a response to an email prompt from a design-y list I’m on, where the original poster posited that “Computing is all around us” and “we are a part of the computer”, but after writing the...
View ArticleOne step at a time
I was helping an entrepreneur friend with his investor pitch last week, and something was bugging me – the pitch didn’t feel right, even though I think the idea is good. He is passionate about how to...
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The Art of Asking, by Amanda Palmer
Amazon link Given my last post was about charity, I thought it was appropriate to follow up with my long overdue review of Amanda Palmer’s book The Art of Asking. The book is an amplification of...
View ArticleDoes Amanda Palmer’s model of asking scale?
A friend asked in response to my last post whether I thought Amanda Palmer’s model of asking could scale. Could everybody find success that way? Do you have to be a rock star public figure to make it...
View ArticleCorporate culture as illustrated by monkeys
I was talking to a friend tonight about organizational culture. She was wondering about how one can institutionalize or productize culture. And I laughed out loud. And she asked me why I thought it was...
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