A 10-principle manifesto

1. Humans vs Entropy

• In the constant battle between human insignificance and the inevitable heat death of the universe, the universe always wins (duh)
  • Fighting this fact won’t change the outcome, but doing so will give meaning to our confounding lives
• The same is true for organizations and teams: when left to their own devices, entropy (disorder, bureaucracy, chaos) takes over. We must fight to push back on entropy, to make teamwork not only effective, but meaningful

2. Collaboration by Design

• If you want your teams to collaborate better you need to design and build efficient information management systems
  • Effective teamwork is essentially about effective information exchange (what, who, when, how much, why), as well as managing the constant change of said information
• It is not about good intentions from the people on your teams (if it were, most teams would be amazing)
  • It is also not enough for the people on your teams to believe in the value of their own work, that has to be a given (if it isn't, you have a team-assembling problem, not a teamwork problem)
• Assuming you have the right people in place, the way to help them collaborate better is by designing, building, and constantly improving systems that make exchanging information easy and efficient
  • That means creating internal communication protocols, having single sources of truth for shared knowledge, and creating clear guidelines for best collaboration practices

3. Effective Communication

• Communication doesn't happen on the side of the speaker, it only happens once the message is received and (most importantly) is properly decoded by the receiver
  • Additionally, information alone is close to worthless without the supporting power of context (too often ignored in favor of speed, almost magical when provided)
• To communicate better, say less, but take the time to say it clearly:
  • Use common but precise language, with the least possible amount of words, sentences, and ideas
  • Always (always) provide relevant context

4. Slow Transformation

• Identify and do the small (but valuable) things needed to initiate, sustain, and maintain lasting change
  • Do these things every day, with disciplined execution and loyalty to the process

5. Better Inputs

• Better inputs lead to better results:
  • To get better results, you need better decisions
  • To make better decisions, you need better thinking
  • To think better, you need better inputs
• Get better inputs and everything flows downstream

6. Perspective

• Think better, live better
  • The way you choose to think about the world you live in (during your ridiculously short time in it) defines the kind of life you live
    • If you believe the world is a mysterious place, full of complicated but mostly kind and collaborative humans, that is the world you will live in
    • The same is true if you believe the world is a dark, broken place, where people are selfish, cynical, and only look out for themselves
  • Same world, different perspectives (and very different lives lived)
• Think better, live better

7. Scaffolding for Creativity