Julie Zhuo

Team lunches, dinners, and other social events serve this purpose, as do some 1:1s and team meetings. When we all understand each other a little better as human beings—when we’ve invested time to learn about our colleagues’ values, hobbies, families, life stories, etc.—then working together also becomes easier and more enjoyable

Another tactic I like is the “Post-it note” opening. Before launching into a discussion about a complex topic (for example, what our marketing goals should be or what success looks like three years from now), give everyone a pad of Post-it notes and ask them to write down their thoughts on the topic. Then, have the room work in quiet concentration for about ten to fifteen minutes

The path to success is never a straight line. It’s not about having the single, brilliant, lightning-flash insight that suddenly wins the game. Instead, it’s about consistent planning and execution—you try what seems like a good idea

Recall Herbert Hoover’s catchy campaign slogan: “A chicken in every pot.” It’s the opposite of squishy. The promise isn’t “America’s going to get wealthier.” It’s not “People will have more economic prosperity.” “A chicken in every pot” conjures up an image of millions of families enjoying a hearty and substantial meal for supper.

To help you get started, ask yourself the following:
Assume you have a magic wand that makes everything your team does go perfectly. What do you hope will be different in two to three years compared to now?
How would you want someone who works on an adjacent team to describe what your team does? What do you hope will be your team’s reputation in a few years? How far off is that from where things are today?
What unique superpower(s) does your team have? When you’re at your best, how are you creating value? What would it look like for your team to be twice as good? Five times as good?
If you had to create a quick litmus test that anyone could use to assess whether your team was doing a poor job, a mediocre job, or a kick-ass job, what would that litmus test be

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything

In the words of Apple visionary Steve Jobs, creator of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad: “People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.”

In retrospect, here’s how I should have clarified expectations up front: “Dan, I’d like you to take the lead on framing the options; Sarah, can you own defining the visual language?” or “Each of you should take a stab at how you’d design this. For the areas where you have differing opinions, let’s have the three of us get together and I’ll make a call.”

For my second draft, I wised up. Instead of treating the entire book as one humongous project with a far-out deadline, I broke it down and promised my editors I would revise one chapter a week

We can either spend the next few weeks debating which ideas are the best or we can try to learn as quickly as possible by doing. Our goal is to build simple, conclusive tests that help us understand which things we should double down on and which things we should cut from the list. If an idea works, we’ll expand upon it in the next sprint