Commitment to sounding dumb

I finished “High Output Management” yesterday and, generally speaking, it’s a pretty good read on management. The engineering bent may rub people the wrong way but focusing on managerial leverage to increase output is a pretty nifty way of narrowing the discussion.

Anyway, in one section he reminded me that both managers and individual contributors often refrain from sharing information or asking questions for fear of sounding dumb. Less information + fewer questions is likely to lead to lower quality output. Not a good thing. 

Clearly this isn’t the first time I’ve heard this, the “There are no stupid questions” has been tossed around many times in and out of work. However, for some reason this time it hit home a little harder and my new commitment is to “sound dumb” at work more. I’m sure my team is shuddering now but I want to challenge them to make their information and decision making even clearer and for other managers to do the same. We’ll see how it goes.

At the very lease I promise not to be these people. 

The Best Get Better

A few weeks ago Phoenix played in SF and my good friend @rohnjobinson hooked me up with a ticket and Kate scored one through her cousin. Needless to say the show was amazing. Intimate venue, they brought the noise, didn’t shy away from their new stuff, and played songs I’d heard them play in ways I’d never heard before. Inspiring stuff.

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It got me thinking about the best people, companies and products I’ve ever seen. Ultimately it’s all the same: the best keep getting better. They find that one reason (or problem or person or whatever) that inspires them and they continue to get better. If the old inspiration isn’t enough they find something new and push hard. It’s so awesome.

Good managers? They’re learning new ways to manager a team, they’re pushing to learn more about the industry, they’re always asking for feedback on what they can do better.

Good products? They get faster, cheaper, more powerful and they’re not afraid to totally shake up their own business. They go right at The Innovators Dilemma.

Sometimes the best fail. That’s pretty obvious. They’ll have bad days, weeks, etc. and product releases will fail and Phoenix probably bombs a set or two (actually they probably don’t) but you can be damn sure they get better.

A Favorite Article on Strategy

I think I’ve sent this around more than any other business focused article in my life. I love the anecdotes, the focus on “prepared minds” and the willingness to experiment and react. Jives perfectly with my own experiences in successful and unsuccessful strategy planning. It’s also a lot more fun to think about strategy like this.

usopentennis:

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re taking a look back at some of the women who have paved the way for the modern female player.

Trailblazers, legends, friends, rivals. Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf are three of the greatest players in tennis history, with a combined 15 US Open and 58 Grand Slam single titles between them. Here they are at the US Open during one of their title runs, deep in thought and poised for victory.

Who are your favorite women’s players of all time?

Three of the greatest of all time and each had their own style. Doubt I could even get a point of them.