The Staff Meeting Ritual
Ah, the dreaded staff meeting. Chances are, if you work for a company of a certain size, you'll have been pulled into a staff meeting at some point. I'm not talking...
Management
Founder Mode Rationalization
It's been some months since Paul Graham published his essay on "Founder Mode": the idea that there are times when founders should exercise their authority to orient a company's...
Feedback Void
There is a certain allure to someone who marches to the beat of their own drum. Framed negatively, it's stubbornness or a refusal to heed the warning of others; positively, it's...
Review: Executive Engineering
A quick disclaimer: Jack Danger, the author of Executive Engineering , is a friend and former colleague. We worked together as fellow engineers and engineering managers at Square, and our paths have crossed serendipitously in subsequent...
Upwards Status Updates
An inevitability when conducting 1:1s is providing status updates. It's a safe default; if there isn't a set agenda or a set of immediate problems to solve, and neither party...
Another Management Malpractice
Whenever an individual or a company garners fame and fortune, there's often intense interest in their processes and behaviors. The thinking is that there's some sort of secret sauce or hidden wisdom in how they operate, so you , dear reader, can follow in their steps perhaps you can share in some...