Kyle Steinike

In many ways, there is only one question any manager need ask: How do I make my team members’ lives easier—physically, cognitively, and emotionally?

When laid out like that, it’s obviously a bad idea. But remember that it emerges from a desire to get going on a project, to see work happening, to have tangible evidence of progress. That’s good. Everyone involved in a project should have that desire. It becomes trouble only when we belittle planning as the annoying stuff we have to deal with

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We avoid doing simple things that work because they don’t make us look smart.

Smart people feel stupid doing simple things, so we invent complicated alternatives that accomplish less but feel more intellectually satisfying.

Meanwhile, the people who dominate their fields are doing embarrassingly basic things, but they do them better than everyone... See more