asmartbear.com
Keyword, buzzword, half-truth, adjective, hey look at me! (founder of two unicorns: http://WPEngine.com, http://SmartBear.com).
Writing for 17 years at: https://longform.asmartbear.com
4,623 posts
6,993 followers
1,606 following
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True.
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If you mean "executives" literally, as in people with "VP" or "C" in their title, then they need to be both, period.
If they're not, it's a problem that needs to be solved, otherwise you need someone appropriate in the position.
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Not really, other than just pointing out they haven't led anywhere.
Instead, direct that "storytelling energy" to sending monthly emails with info on how the company is doing, what it needs, asks for readers.
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๐
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Haha, it's so true. I don't know why it's so persistent, when every example of someone saying it is met with the same resistance.
I guess because they want so desperately for it to be true.
Understandable, even if wrong.
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And this is true no matter how you define success.
And that is why the only sure way to fail is to not try. The only sure way to fail is to not push through the pain๏ฟผ.
It's a torturous chaos until it isn't (
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Yep, you'll need to find those 10 people later anyway to interview/sell.
So if you already can't find them, building a product for 4 months isn't going to change that.
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They can indeed.
MVPs are much faster. The rest of it still takes years.
"Most companies" aren't making new software.
(I still don't love sprints and meetings, but not because of AI)
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That sounds like poorly-written code.
Similarly it shouldn't take as long to read a book as to write it.
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Not typically paying double-digit million dollars annually for beta software, but sure it's easy to agree that those are important customers to make happy.
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If you can't figure out how to do this, get help immediately--a book, a coach, something. Because right now, you're being a terrible manager.
The goal is simple: Stay informed while staying out of the way.
The article below is how I do it:
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The Solution: ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด
You can know everything without dictating everything. Monitor performance and hold people accountable without micromanaging their process.
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๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ ๐ฎ: They're capable but you won't let them work. You're the bottleneck, hurting good employees and preventing the company from scaling.
Either way, your best people will leave. People want autonomy. They want to contribute meaningfully, not follow scripts.
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Micromanagement is a flashing warning sign that something's broken, and it's always the manager's fault.
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ ๐ญ: The person can't be trusted with decisions and needs constant direction. You hired wrong. That's on you.
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But micromanagement is equally toxic. When you interrogate every decision and dictate every action, you strip away autonomy and turn people into cogs.
But micromanagement always signals that the manager has failed.
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Exactly, me too.
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Maybe "how difficult is it" isn't the right metric for idea.
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Very much agreed, that's a very good way to proceed.
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Only in the sense that love is cheap.
The value of something is not the amount of money you directly spent.
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I definitely believe that customers can be extorted. I also believe in the opposite.
I detail the difference here:
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Thank you!
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https://longform.asmartbear.com/avoid-blundering/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=asmartbear_bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://longform.asmartbear.com/startup-drake-equation/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=asmartbear_bluesky&utm_medium=social
(8/8)
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https://longform.asmartbear.com/problem/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=asmartbear_bluesky&utm_medium=social
https://longform.asmartbear.com/leverage/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=asmartbear_bluesky&utm_medium=social
(7/8)