Makes the case (which I agree with) that “work-life balance” is a tricky and misleading concept: you make the most progress, learn the most, experience the most when things are not in balance.  “Work-life harmony” or “integration” might be a better term.  (It’s written, I think, for recent grads, but that doesn’t make it any less relevant).

Encouragement to look carefully at your unconscious “carrots and sticks” and make more deliberate choices.  Our brains overestimate costs (going for a run will suck) and underestimate benefits (I’ll feel way better).  Worth bearing in mind.

Long read, good to browse, about all kinds of tricks for motivating yourself, and your team.  Everything from encouraging ownership to when to take a sauna.

I’ve been wondering when the “last 5% is the hardest” rule would start to bite driverless cars.  Here it is: apparently we’re now “five to ten years away”, which is industry code for “we have no idea when this is really going to work”.   Only one opinion, but it feels right.

“Though praise seems easier than criticism, a lot of people hesitate to give praise because they worry about coming across as patronizing. Here are our tips”

Despite the listicle-ness of the title, this is a solid set of recommendations.  Simple, effective.

A brilliant post from Rands on one on ones: how to do them, why, and what to expect.  I’ve probably posted it before, but read it again anyway.  Essential.

Good, solid stuff on how to run one on ones.  (Why do I keep coming back to one on ones?  Because it’s the opportunity you have to establish deep and strong relationships with the people you work with. Strong relationships make better, easier, more satisfying work).

This contains a great breakdown of Where You Should Be at different growth stages up to 500 people.  More broadly, it points out that things will very often seem hard, but that’s not an indication that you’re not doing the right things.  Hiring your first engineer is hard, getting funding is hard, going public is hard.   But you’re right where you ought to be!

“innovation is not as straightforward as starting with creativity and then progressing onto iterative development. Innovation requires a constant interplay between the two”.  Contains some great tips on managing/focussing creativity, and a strong POV that iteration and creativity are intimately linked.

“Making something better only works if you start with something good”.  Similar to the above, makes the case that A/B testing is great for refinement, not for breakthroughs.  And you need breakthroughs.

This is in the “yeah, but with neuroscience” category: people in power apparently lose, or mute, the ability to “mirror” (feel) the people they are with.  Hence fail to detect fear and disapproval.  Hence make bad decisions.  We already knew that (and have a centuries old name for it - hubris), but it’s a bit mind-blowing to have it backed up with some real research.

A good rundown of the dangers of hubris.  A quick read, and a useful check for yourself and the people around you.

Just a great story, and a nice read (pulled from the Power article above).  Short, and useful.

This an excellent, easy to read summary of the learnings gathered from moving from first level to senior manager.  A model of clear communication, among many other things.

Should be obvious by now that having a title requires that you learn leadership - it doesn’t bestow leadership upon you.  Good to have the reminder in this post, and also a decent example of audacity in leadership, which many of you who’ve worked with me know is something I feel strongly is a critical leadership skill.

These tips apply to any meeting that is relatively infrequent and needs a lot of critical information and opinion to be communicated in a short time (exec staff meetings, product reviews etc).  Print it out. Keep it somewhere.  Use it.

A good framework for considering decision-making (not just in startups).  Practical.

A pretty terrific review of the main unconcious biases we have which greatly, and invisibly, affect our decision-making.  We hate losses more than we love gains, we over-emphasize the familiar, and we make different decisions when we’re hungry than when we’re not.  Among others.

The title says it all.  I’ve been busted on this, pretty recently actually.  We do it (men, that is).  How about we stop doing it?