Improve your decisions, improve your business.
Here are my principles for decision-making:
1. Prioritize Speed, Move with Direction: Move at Internet speed, but never without direction. Find projects with big upside and low downside. Then, double-down on projects with momentum.
Here are my principles for decision-making:
1. Prioritize Speed, Move with Direction: Move at Internet speed, but never without direction. Find projects with big upside and low downside. Then, double-down on projects with momentum.
2. Whenever possible, write it down.
Clear thinking is a competitive advantage. To improve the quality of my thinking, I write consistently. I write detailed descriptions of my thinking and detailed analyses after every project. Then, I share my best learnings in public.
Clear thinking is a competitive advantage. To improve the quality of my thinking, I write consistently. I write detailed descriptions of my thinking and detailed analyses after every project. Then, I share my best learnings in public.
3. Give people agency.
Be bold in your pursuit of our goals. Push decision-making down in the organization, so we can make decisions fast. Grant people the freedom to make big decisions, but ask them to justify them in writing so everybody understands why the decision was made.
Be bold in your pursuit of our goals. Push decision-making down in the organization, so we can make decisions fast. Grant people the freedom to make big decisions, but ask them to justify them in writing so everybody understands why the decision was made.
4. Fewer meetings, more long-form writing.
Writing has multiple advantages. First, it's more durable than speaking. Second, it forces the writer to think deeply. Third, our long-form thinking becomes the fodder for future articles, which attracts the right people into our orbit.
Writing has multiple advantages. First, it's more durable than speaking. Second, it forces the writer to think deeply. Third, our long-form thinking becomes the fodder for future articles, which attracts the right people into our orbit.
5. Build, listen, improve.
Students will tell us what they like and don't like. Where they're excited and where they're confused. It's our job to listen to their suggestions and invent on their behalf.
Students will tell us what they like and don't like. Where they're excited and where they're confused. It's our job to listen to their suggestions and invent on their behalf.
6. Share our story.
Everybody I work with is encouraged to write online. By sharing our knowledge, we help other people build their businesses and build a distribution advantage for ourselves. Sharing ideas attracts great people. By building an audience, our ideas gain leverage.
Everybody I work with is encouraged to write online. By sharing our knowledge, we help other people build their businesses and build a distribution advantage for ourselves. Sharing ideas attracts great people. By building an audience, our ideas gain leverage.
7. How we deal with mistakes
When something goes wrong, we write about it. We write about what happened, what we were thinking at the time, and how we will avoid making the same mistake again. Mistakes are assumed to be system failures, not people failures.
When something goes wrong, we write about it. We write about what happened, what we were thinking at the time, and how we will avoid making the same mistake again. Mistakes are assumed to be system failures, not people failures.
8. Systems serve production.
We are prolific creators. Avoid long meetings. Plan the big picture one quarter at a time, and the step-by-step details at the start of every week. Spend your time making things, thinking in long-form writing, and improving the student experience.
We are prolific creators. Avoid long meetings. Plan the big picture one quarter at a time, and the step-by-step details at the start of every week. Spend your time making things, thinking in long-form writing, and improving the student experience.
9. Make things easy for your future self.
Obsess over details at the beginning, so your systems can run themselves. Systems should be well-defined, so we can re-use them from project-to-project. Nail internal systems and the product takes care of itself.
Obsess over details at the beginning, so your systems can run themselves. Systems should be well-defined, so we can re-use them from project-to-project. Nail internal systems and the product takes care of itself.
10. Written reflections.
Take feedback seriously. Student feedback is our single best source of learning, so we welcome positive and negative comments. Upon receipt, we write down their ideas and identify the highest leverage projects to improve the student experience.
Take feedback seriously. Student feedback is our single best source of learning, so we welcome positive and negative comments. Upon receipt, we write down their ideas and identify the highest leverage projects to improve the student experience.
Writing improves my thinking.
But business writing is very different from what you learned in school. Clarity matters above everything else, and when you're pressed for time, you have to write fast.
Start here if you want to improve your writing.
But business writing is very different from what you learned in school. Clarity matters above everything else, and when you're pressed for time, you have to write fast.
Start here if you want to improve your writing.
If you want to write faster and improve your thinking, sign up for my email course.
You'll learn about The Netflix Principle, why you should write in small chunks, and how to get rid of writer's block.
ageofleverage.com/course
You'll learn about The Netflix Principle, why you should write in small chunks, and how to get rid of writer's block.
ageofleverage.com/course
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