Products are a three-way parlay
The three things all successful products get right
Craft
Solve problems worth solving
On creating products that matter
Poetry vs. long-form writing
On pairing form and intention
When to be waterfall, when to be agile
On using cost-of-change to guide process design for a project
Compressing vs. editing
On identifying and sequencing the actions that matter most
The downside of (developer) sprints
A career of sprints is an exhausting prospect
The power of working remote
On the power of decoupling impact from hours worked
Thinking about the work is the work
On the experience of being a knowledge worker
Don’t make things in an attempt to earn your freedom.
On making things that make you feel free
Jigsaw puzzle (a design process metaphor)
On how to approach design problems
Collect now, curate later
On figuring out what should belong and what shouldn’t
Build the machine first
On why adding headcount doesn’t make up for poor management or process.
Start with the market
On how to start a business
Fall in love with the search
On the importance of consistently showing up
Create enduring value
On the difference between perfectionism, craftsmanship, and laziness
I’m a binge creator
On the ebbs and flows of making things
Don’t debate ideas, validate them
On using degrees of certainty to make product decisions
Stick your shovel in the soil
On allowing time to weather your work
Let your users push you
On having the courage to build less
How to be slower to speak
On being a more valuable contributor to conversations
Fidelity should match confidence
On how to use fidelity as a communication tool
Be prolific
On how to hold your creative work more loosely
A beginner’s guide to light
A brief overview of the relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO
The best products are made in relationship
On the importance of making things in community
Moving pianos
A story about the art of anything
Ideas must be caught
A mediation on making room for ideas and bringing them to life
Forget your work
A perfectionist’s guide to writing (and sharing) more easily
Paint-covered pants
On finding the courage to live the life we were created for
Artifacts of evolution
Processing the pain and promise of progress in the epicenter of disruption, San Francisco
The beginnings make the endings
On the myth of overnight success
Create for you and no one else
On the importance of creating for yourself and no one else
Creativity is courage
On why creativity ultimately has nothing to do with what we make and everything to do with what living a life of courage makes of us
Inspiration finds you
On creation feeling more like surrender than accomplishment
Don’t be afraid to use the ink
An exercise in breaking through my inability to embrace my desire to create
I don’t want a raise
On using constraints to unlock hyper-creativity
Do work you’ve never done before
On learning to embrace and seek discomfort