The Weekly Hagakure #14
Build-Measure-Learn: a little iteration on the Hagakure.
Last weekend, I got some precious feedback from a subscriber which brought me back to the original idea for this newsletter — to share with others some of the most interesting content I come across. I guess I love my soapbox, though, because over time I ended up adding way too much of my yapping on top. You could say the result was clearly violating the Single Responsibility Principle. 😄
So I decided to take the feedback and act on it. From this edition on, any original content of mine will live on my blog and, if justified, will be linked from here. This way, readers keen on my personal thoughts and experiences can continue to consume that content, while everyone else coming for the curated stuff gets a short, unencumbered selection that goes straight to the point.
✅ With the housekeeping done, please enjoy this week’s issue below.
3 Articles
✍️ They Need to Change (But Might Not Know It)
“Teamwork makes the dream work” and all, but it's easy to sometimes not act that way in practice. When management doesn't seem to “get it”, we often forget that it's not personal but rather due to a blind spot, maybe lack of context or perspective. Instead of getting adversarial, Esther Derby reminds us that it's more fruitful to take a step back and truly partner with our managers in filing those gaps.
✍️ Delivering On An Architecture Strategy
How product and tech leadership responsibilities differ (and what they are) is often murky, or simply a void. I wholeheartedly agree with Pete Hodgson here that product (and therefore business) value stems from a solid technical foundation. In this post, he presents a framework to address strategic technical work that creates connective tissue and maximises shared context, leading to more happiness and better outcomes.
✍️ The Skill That Separates
Sometimes, when lost in thought, I wonder what would the world really look like if most people in business listened more than they talked (instead of the opposite). I'm certainly biased by the western culture I have lived in all my life, and I’m definitely a damn talker (working on it…), but the point remains. Executive coaching guru Marshall Goldsmith gives us a glimpse of one benefit that any of us would certainly crave.
2 Videos / Podcasts
📺 Humanize Diversity and Inclusion
Until fairly recently, I have to admit my understanding of what it means to be inclusive wasn't really up to snuff. But that's the point: we must educate ourselves, especially if we're born into privilege. This talk by Damien Hooper-Campbell is one of the most impactful I've ever come across on these topics and, in my opinion, should be mandatory viewing in any onboarding process. It’s also a lot of fun, and Damien is an incredible speaker. #PublicSpeakingGoals
📺 Matt Ridley: How Innovation Works
If you, like me, find "innovation" to be an elusive concept, listening to this conversation between investor/entrepreneur Naval Ravikant and author/journalist Matt Ridley is a must. On the back of Ridley's recently published new book, they dissect the topic from a bunch of perspectives, illuminating many aspects I was frankly oblivious to. For example, what's the difference between invention and innovation? And is it collaborative or really a lone genius thing? (If you enjoy this one, there's also part 2.)
1 Book
📚The Excellence Dividend by Tom Peters
Much has been said about the technological onslaught and how everybody will supposedly end up automated away. While I don't buy that zero-sum game theory of jobs, I do of course believe technology will continue to massively impact what we do, and will further enhance human capabilities to now unimaginable levels. Tom Peters thesis here is simple: excellence is the key to survive this process.
This is an out of the ordinary book, both in terms of tone and format, but definitely a fun one with a ton of important points. One that stood out to me: most markets are dominated by women as customers. Which makes it pretty stupid that most leadership and management teams are predominantly (often, exclusively) male. Not only a missed opportunity to do what's right, also a gigantic missed business opportunity, Peters argues. A highly recommended read for any leader or manager in pretty much any domain, but especially in technology. The opportunities to be excellent, in every single situation, are endless.
🙌🏽 Thank you for reading! Enjoyed this week’s edition? Have feedback on how I can make this more valuable to you? I’d love to hear it — my DMs are open on Twitter or just write me a comment below.
✍️ Find some more of my ramblings on tech and org stuff over at The Evolutionary Manager.
👉 You can also follow me on Twitter @prla