How to solve difficult problems?

Optimistic, Collaborative, Persistent: we can overcome pretty much any challenge if we actively search for solutions rather than just create anxieties, if we work together constructively rather than point fingers at each other, and if we work hard to get things done rather than complain about the lack of progress.

Continue reading

Embracing Chaos: Jeff Hunter

The key takeaways from this podcast were

On Always growing:

Design your work as a series of continual experiments. What is the hypothesis, what are the expected results and what was the actual outcome. Actual outcomes then result in confusion and we if we recognise the “confused” state as an opportunity to grow, we become curious and can try refining the hypothesis. Doing this continually will bring more clarity and more learning.

Manage by focusing on clarity, not control

“Management is the act of achieving goals through the work of others” 

Jeff Hunter

Clear goals, quick feedback

Are you clear on the goals, especially in a rapidly changing environments. Does your team  clearly understand what “good” performance looks like ? Also, try and be clear on how you’ll reach those goals.

Give feedback in a safe environment without any accusations, attempt to figure out what’s working and what’s not. Here is the suggested approach

  • In the situation, this is how I assess the outcome vs what we understand is “good” performance
  • This is how I experience (how I think and feel about) what happened or how things have gone so far
  • How did the other person experience it? If its different, ask questions to understand and identify where the gaps were and then agree on what could have been different
  • Quick feedback is critical, for the more time gap between cause and effect, poorer we are at making the right connections

Don’t confuse time on task with speed of work

Avoid the ‘BSL’ narrative: Don’t tell stories about how bad, stupid or lazy (BSL) you or other people are. It is usually (although not always) inaccurate. Remained focus on the issues at hand 

Also give Positive feedback: People usually don’t know what they are good at, we even believe we are bad at things that we are actually good at. To do this clearly, start with the same framework

  • Re-iterate  what “good” looks like
  • Explain how I experienced the situation/particular piece of work – in my view why the work done was good or great
  • Listen to how the other person experienced it & see if there are insights/ lessons to learn

On hiring

The chance of getting a great fit hire is 1/5. To hire better, ask the following quesitons

  • What will be the future of the role I’m hiring for in 6-9 months and am I hiring for that?
  • What skills will the candidate need and which of those do they have ? What decisions has the candidate taken and behaviours he/she has displayed that helps me gather evidence

Try being a like a detective to keep clarifying — What you did, how you did it, why you did it. Look for evidence. Also, If you have not hired for that role before, you will be blind – ask for help from people who have done it.

How to think critically:

More likely than not, the world isn’t the problem; the problem is the way you’re interpreting it. Therefore, always start with the reality that you’re missing something; What have I missed here? How do I deal with inherent biases (e.g recency bias) ? What is the underlying root of the problem, so we aren’t just solving for resulting patterns/symptoms

#74 Jeff Hunter: Embracing Confusion

https://player.fm/series/the-knowledge-project-with-shane-parrish/ep-74-jeff-hunter-embracing-confusion

Measure What Matters

John Doerr’s book centres around a simple, yet powerful tool – OKRs expanded as Objectives & Key Results. Filled with examples as well as stories on how to go about implementing it, with examples of impact, which made it a simple yet profoundly insightful read. The whole concept is (almost blatantly) sold using the fact that Google used (and probably still uses) it extensively and so does other very successful Silicon Valley firms that John worked with.

I’m not going to repeat the central idea of the book, for that is definitely worthy of the time spent reading and assimilating and I’d highly recommend it. Here are four (selective & not comprehensive) underlying principles that I’d love to remember, in addition to the toolset

Ideas aren’t bound by hierarchy

The most powerful and energising ideas often originate with front line contributors. However, its not often that these get clearly elevated as a company wide priority and at the right level of granularity. Innovation tends to dwell less at the centre of an organisation that at its edges.

The most powerful OKRs typically stemmed from insights outside the C Suite. As Andy Grove (the legendary Intel leader) observed, “people in the trenches are usually in touch with the impending changes early. Sales people understand shifting consumer demands before management does. Financial analysts are the earliest to know when the fundamentals of a business change.

Since OKRs are not (necessarily) top-down, there are several examples sighted of how this can happen using the methods outlined in the book. Here’s one example –

As a YouTube product manager Rick was responsible for the site’s homepage, the third most visited in the world; the hitch – only a small fraction of users logged into the site and were therefore missing out on important features from saving videos to channel subscriptions.To solve the problem Rick devised a six month O.K.R. to improve the site’s login experience. They made their case to YouTube CEO, who consulted with the Google CEO (then Larry Page). Larry opted to elevate the login objective to google company wide OKR, but with the caveat: The deadline would be three months, not six.

Focus and commit to priorities

The art of management lives in the capacity to select from the many activities of seemingly comparable significance to one or two or three that provide leverage will be on the others and concentrate on them.

Align and connect for teamwork

In business, I have found, there isn’t really a single right answer. By using the reins and backing people to find the right answers, we help everybody win. High functioning teams thrive on a creative tension between top down and bottom up Goal setting.

Feedback

Reviews centres around five questions.

  • What are you working on?
  • How are you doing – how are the OKRs coming along?
  • Is there anything impeding your work?
  • What do you need from me to be more successful?
  • How do you need to grow to achieve your career goals?

If you are looking for a more detailed reviews, I’d recommend this one