The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 41:
🎭 '''3 – This Time with Feeling.''' Falling behind on product, the team recommits to rebuild with a daily execution rhythm that surfaces blockers quickly, pairs straight talk with urgency, and channels emotion into focused action. Leaders narrate reality without spin, rally people to the hardest work, and relentlessly search for the missing tasks that change outcomes. ''It’s a good idea to ask, “What am I not doing?”''
💥 '''4 – When Things Fall Apart.''' When reality collapses—financing dries up, customers leave, and the plan disintegrates—treat the moment as the Struggle, refuse to play the odds, and assume there is an answer worth finding. Protect trust by telling it like it is, making layoffs in one clean pass, and being ready to fire or demote executives fast and fairly, because the message is for the people who stay. When product pressure mounts, stop searching for pivots and commit to lead bullets—hard engineering and relentless execution—to win the market. ''Because in the end, nobody cares; just run your company.''
🧑🤝🧑 '''5 – Take Care of the People, the Products, and the Profits—in That Order.''' Build a place where people can do their best work, because when the economics vanish only job satisfaction keeps talent from leaving; hire for strengths, not the absence of weaknesses, and don’t shy from unconventional executives like Mark Cranney if they can win. Make care operational with disciplined training, regular one‑on‑ones, and clear performance standards while avoiding management debt—short‑term fixes that create long‑term cultural liabilities. Handle sensitive practices such as hiring from friends’ companies and promotions with principled rules so politics doesn’t outcompete contribution. ''We take care of the people, the products, and the profits—in that order.''
🏢 '''6 – Concerning the Going Concern.''' Keep the company healthy by designing against politics: insist on the right kind of ambition (for the company, not oneself), calibrate titles and promotions carefully, and deal directly with smart‑but‑destructive employees. Program culture explicitly and scale by letting the people doing the work design the processes they will run, while avoiding the scale anticipation fallacy that adds bureaucracy before it’s needed. Use clear policies and direct communication—even on emotionally charged issues—so people can move faster together. ''Sometimes an organization doesn’t need a solution; it just needs clarity.''
🗺️ '''7 – How to Lead Even When You Don't Know Where You Are Going.'''
| |||