Firefighting feels noble. But it’s a symptom of poor design. When everything’s on fire, it’s easy to feel important. Needed. Even heroic. You’re solving urgent problems, making big calls, saving the day. But here’s the hard truth: if you’re always
“Don’t ship your org chart.” That’s the mantra software teams have repeated for decades—as if you could somehow outsmart the structure you work within. But Conway’s Law isn’t a suggestion to be clever. It’s a description of reality: Any organization
Summary Insight: Every societal revolution begins with a new source of power. The last one was driven by steam; this one runs on compute. Understanding how past leaders adapted to new energy systems reveals how to lead your business through
Overthinking isn’t thinking. It’s just noise pretending to be insight. A few weeks ago, I met with a group of twenty-somethings — fresh graduates trying to figure out what to do with their lives. One of them asked how I
Inexperienced leaders to fix problems before they’ve diagnosed the system that creates them. They tweak incentives, shuffle roles, or launch new initiatives—without seeing the structure underneath. Then they wonder why the same friction keeps reappearing. Every organization is a living
They say you can’t solve a problem from the level of the problem. That’s mostly true — but not always. You can solve it from the same level. You’ll just burn out doing it. The Daily Grind of Low-Leverage Solving
Summary Insight: Most enterprise AI agrees; it doesn’t think. Anchor it in first principles and a centralized context engine to get signal, not applause. Key Takeaways: Consensus scales mediocrity; first principles create breakthroughs. Centralize context; train AI to probe and
When complexity compounds, leverage—not hustle—wins. There’s a point in every growing company where the wheels start to wobble. Not because people stopped caring. Because the system can’t carry the load. More meetings. More firefighting. Less throughput. This Thu, Oct 16
Summary Insight: AI notes don’t equal decisions. Treat meetings like your company’s nervous system—live, structured, and human—or watch execution flatline. Key Takeaways: Meetings exist to make decisions, not exchange information. AI can record and advise but cannot replace presence, authority,
