

Rules to Lead by from the Man Who Defined Google’s Product Strategy - ca98am79
http://firstround.com/article/42-Rules-to-Lead-by-from-the-Man-Who-Defined-Googles-Product-Strategy

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johngalt
Great list. The only thing I'd add is 'Amateurs study tactics, professionals
study logistics'. I've seen too many projects held up for want of a nail.

Anyone who's worked for a larger organization knows that you'll have weekly
team meetings hammering on the developers to get project X out the door on
time. Then the developers will walk out of that meeting and spend three weeks
trying to get the tools and equipment they need from IT with zero backup from
leadership.

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euphemize
> #1 Be a broken record. ... > #5 Stop talking, already.

Also, 42 rules? Would of been nicer to have just the few important ones
perhaps.

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mindcrime
> #1 Be a broken record. ... > #5 Stop talking, already.

Heh, I was going to comment on that as well. I think this shows something
about the merit of taking advice at "face value" and not applying your own
discretion and judgment to its application.

I also disagree to some extent with #10 and #13. What he calls "bustling" and
"energetic" I call "distracting" and "annoying". And while I'm a big believer
in the value of face-to-face communication, I think working-from-home has a
role to play as well. The problem, in my mind (and I don't pretend to have a
definite answer to this) is how to find the right balance between expecting
people to be in the office, and allowing them the flexibility to work from
home.

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SkyMarshal
_> #4 Tell stories.

Great leaders are great teachers. And great teachers are great storytellers.
“Narrative is how we learn. If you want to be a leader, you will teach and
tell stories. The two are inseparable.”_

When I hear this I can't help but think, narrative fallacy. Narrative may have
traditionally been "how we learn", but recent research into biases and
heuristics (Kahneman & Taversky especially) suggests it's not entirely
reliable.

This bit of advice doesn't go into much detail on how telling stories is
essential to leadership. Anyone have any experience on just what is meant
here, and whether narrative fallacy is a concern?

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tensor
> #23 Don’t hire specialists.

I hope his definition of specialist is wrong considering that he himself is a
specialist. Perhaps what he means is "hire people who can learn and adapt."
After all, you won't get anywhere without people who have deep knowledge in
particular areas.

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e40
_#31 Consider the customer._

Seems google has gotten away from that. The Nexus 4 has a couple of very bad
bugs that have gone unfixed for a long time. I feel really bad that I
recommended a good friend get it, because these bugs have really damaged his
enjoyment of the phone.

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rgbrenner
They've gotten away from it?? Here's a list of things they consider important,
and #31 is the customer. And it's not even that strongly worded.. it's
'consider' the customer. In fact it says, "If there’s a doubt about what to
do, consider your customer’s perspective." Literally saying the customer is an
afterthought, only to be considered if you aren't sure what to do.

It doesn't sound like it was ever very high on their list to begin with.

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dylanrw
#10 Crowded is creative. #13 Show up.

I couldn't say I agree. It flat out dismisses companies that do perfectly well
while having remote teams. I guess it depends on if you have a company that
focuses on discussion more than say building something.

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chuckcode
Lots of valuable one liners in there. I think being at google though he missed
a few that are too obvious to mention there.

#43 Start with something that works and then iterate often to improve.

#44 If your project involves engineering then involve the engineers in the
product specifications, don't trust marketing or MBAs to do it alone.

#45 Simplify as much as possible.

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robrenaud
What is a bad egg? How do you identify and purge the bad eggs while laying off
the kill switch?

