29
Aug

Why what’s best for the person is ALWAYS what’s best for the company

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship, Productivity Reply

Tweet I often get asked, “What do you do, what’s best for the person or what’s best for the company?” Or, “What happens when what’s best for the employee isn’t best for the company?” In my mind, doing what’s best for each individual person in an organization is what’s best for the company at large. At least today. Here’s why. Times have changed If you think back in the days before America was discovered, on → Read More

13
Jun

Prepare for meetings – death by meeting

Published by adil in Productivity Reply

Tweet In his essay, Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule Y Combinator’s Paul Graham points out that managers’ schedules and makers’ (i.e. programmers’ or writers’) schedules are quite different: Each day, managers’ schedules are cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you’re doing every hour. On the other hand, makers generally prefer to use time in units of at → Read More

19
May

Managing stress

Published by adil in Productivity 2 comments

Tweet I saw an interesting article recently titled “What is the Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology” by Ben Horowitz on TechCrunch. In it, Horowitz talks about the stressful aspects of being a CEO (there are many) and shares some techniques he uses to calm his nerves. The startup environment is frothy now. Money’s coming back into play and investors are looking for the next big thing in tech. Sound familiar? When the → Read More

24
Feb

Management by walking around

Published by adil in Agile, Productivity 8 comments

Tweet Easily, one of the most fun parts of my job is management by walking around (MBWA). It’s not just fun, but its also quite effective as a tool in leading organizations. My experience, however, is that its an underutilized tactic. And for those of us who do it, its one of the easiest things to ‘bump off the schedule’ for something seemingly more important. A brief history “Management by Wandering Around” is a term that → Read More

13
Nov

How to know what is worth fighting for

Published by adil in Creative, Productivity Reply

Tweet Effectively managing conflict in the workplace has been a topic on my mind for some time now. Having a new topic on your mind is kind of like buying a new car; you start to notice it everywhere. Now that I am thinking about effectively managing conflict, I am starting to see conflict or opportunities for healthy conflict everywhere. One of the most challenging things for one to think through as they try → Read More

20
Oct

The Right Way to Fight

Published by adil in Agile, Product Management, Productivity Reply

Tweet The term ‘conflict’ typically carries with it negative connotation. But it’s something I have been thinking a lot about lately, and I feel like conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. As our company continues to grow at a very rapid trajectory, there are lots of new faces, roles, and even whole organizations. Managing the responsibilities and roles during the growth has been a challenge, to say the least. The reality, however, is that → Read More

5
Oct

If you can't nap, meditate

Published by adil in Productivity 1 comment

Tweet Recently, I wrote about how advantageous I feel naps can be, and how thrilled I am that there is some evidence to support what I’ve suspected for some time now. Unfortunately, whether the day is just that hectic, or I’m simply not in the mood, there will be times when taking a nap is just not an option. I also know people who are just ‘not good at sleeping during the day.’ Meditation provides → Read More

30
Sep

Building a workforce of one

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship, Productivity Reply

Tweet As I have seen our company grow, I have been thinking a lot about the best way to serve its employees. One lesson that I have repeatedly learned is that people are very complex and different. I am continually taught new lessons about how what works for one person does not work for another. Every effort I have made to treat a group of different people the same way has backfired. I am slowly, → Read More

21
Sep

Why you should insist on taking naps…