unicolet.org

The most effective way to kill anybody's commitment when they present an idea or work to us is to start suggesting changes. Now it's no longer their idea, and as a result their commitment will be cut in at least half. A reduced commitment will in turn negatively affect execution, then outcomes, and ultimately impact. And we don't want to negatively affect impact. So what we should instead think about is: how much MORE value am I adding? Unless it's an amazing margin (2x), the best course of action is just to say thanks, that's a great idea! How were you planning to execute it and is there anything that I can help with, now or later? Alternatively, if we really want to add something we can ask: what kind of feedback or advice are you looking for from me? By asking in this way we're still leaving the agency - and the commitment - with them. This does not apply only in employee - manager situations, but can happen in lower-stakes interactions too: think code revie...

Agency, skill, and mastery are topics on which I have so many thoughts, and I am still discovering myself. This writing summarizes my position as of roughly April 2024. Agency, as pictured below, is to take on things, doing hard things without waiting for conditions to be perfect or otherwise blaming others or your circumstances. Examples of low agency: I could develop so much faster if only the code was not so crappy!  We would be already finished if this or that team had done their job properly!  If only my boss (or company) understood me, I could really do great things for this Company or my team! High agency behavior:  I'll try to make changes to the code/add tests/etc as I work on parts of it so that I will, over time, be faster. Let's see if there are ways that I...