Category: Everything else

A simple habit that helps us better understand the data we’re presented – whenever we’re presented with averages, ask to see the median as well.

Imagine we had the following data on the amount of time 5 users spent on our product to get something done- 1 min, 1 min, 1 min, 1 min, 100 mins.

The median time spent would be 1 min. The average time spent would be 20.8 minutes.

While it might still be useful to understand what is driving the outlier, extreme datapoints sway the average. Medians, on the other hand, give a true picture of the distribution.

3 questions to ask ourselves when we find ourselves seeking or pondering the absence of external validation:

(1) What kind of validation are we seeking?

(2) To what end? (Why does it matter?/what are we looking to accomplish?)

(3) How much of it do we require?

In the past years, I’ve found seeking external validation to be a guaranteed driver of unhappiness (the other such guaranteed driver that doesn’t fail to disappoint is comparing ourselves to others).

But, every once a while, external validation becomes necessary in our careers. In those moments, it is helpful to take a step back, ask these questions, and proceed with caution.

One of the more impactful lessons I learnt from “The Power of Moments” by the Heath brothers was that we often look at NPS scores/user feedback all wrong.

Most folks spend disproportionate time dealing with those who grade us 1/10 or 2/10 when our efforts would be best spent on those who give us 5/10 or 6/10. The former hate us. For the same amount of effort we’d expend to convert them, we’d have significantly more success with the latter who are on the cusp.

It is an approach that is applicable well beyond customer service.

There is often little to be gained from the 1/10 review.

One of my themes for the new year was to invest in better self-care systems. I’ve been paying attention to a few systems – sleep, diet, reading and exercise. And, as I head into the 4th week of the new year, I’m grateful to the folks at Apple Fitness plus for crafting an excellent product experience.

For ~$6.75/month (i.e., 2x cheaper than a Netflix subscription), you have access to a fantastic array of workouts with excellent trainers.

And, as with most things Apple, the integration across hardware and software – in this case with the Watch – is fantastic.

As a result, I’ve gotten a 15 minute workout in most mornings thanks to the ease of doing so.

A product that I’ve loved using, that I hope to use more, and that is good for me.

Thank you, Fitness plus team.

“The average person should write 5x more things than they do. The average written thing should be 5x shorter than it is.” | Mike Crittenden’s blog

It resonated.

Seth shares a great story about an author called Robert Caro in “The Practice.” Caro had quit his job as a reporter and begun writing his first major biography – “The Power Broker.”

He took a modest advance and moved his family to a tiny apartment. But, years later, the end didn’t seem in sight. In 1975, he wrote a poignant story for The New York Times describing his despair.

Then, he was given a key to a back room at the New York Public Library. Only eleven writers had keys, and each was given a desk to write.

One day, he looked up and found James Flexner – one of his idols – ask a question he’d come to dread – “How long have you been working on it?”

“Five years”

“Oh, that’s not so long. I’ve been working on my Washington for nine years.”

The next day, another of his idols said quietly – “Eleanor and Franklin took me seven.”

He could have jumped up and kissed them. In a couple of sentences, both men – his idols – had wiped away five years of doubt.

The lesson “Find your cohort. The generous ones.” resonated deeply.

It is amazing how often a technology problem is solved by turning off the device and turning it on.

I think it works similarly in our lives. When we aren’t feeling our best or behaving as we’d expect, the best thing we can do is to turn off. Take a break and get some rest.

We’ll work better on the other side.

I received a “privacy rights” notice from a financial service provider who collects payments on a loan. They notified me that I had the right to tell them to not share my data with other financial services companies. However –

(a) If I didn’t explicitly say no, they’d assume I am supportive.
(b) If I did want to say no, I can’t just do it via my account online. No, I’d need to mail in a response.
(c) They graciously added an envelope. However, I wouldn’t just be able to drop it in the post box. I’d need to get a stamp.

I marveled at the thoughtfulness that went into adding just enough friction for me to discard the mailer and thus give them what they want.

Imagine if we all applied the same amount of thought to adding or removing friction to drive better habits/behavior.

We all go through phases when things don’t look as sunny in our careers/lives.

What we want in times like this is more sun. Permanent sunny weather if you will.

What we need instead is to learn to appreciate how sunny it really is – even when it doesn’t feel like it.

The sun always exists behind those clouds.

Once I make a commitment, I hate missing it. But, every once a while, I find it helpful to miss a commitment to recommit to a better process. Here’s an example.

I used to host this blog myself. A few years in, I started experiencing a spate of phishing attacks from some Russian bots/. This led to a predictable pattern – I would realize something is wrong (included the blog going down/an inability to post), go back and forth with my hosting provider requesting for help to clean up the Russian files, and then call one of my trusted developer friends for help to save the day.

Eventually, we’d get it back up and I’d sneak in my post for the day and not miss my commitment.

After this had happened a few times too many, I decided it had to stop. So, I missed a day.

Instead of the usual short-term fix, I used the day to stop hosting the blog myself and handed over the reins to WordPress.com. Safety/security came with the package. And, for $40 or so per year back then, I bought myself peace of mind.

I thought of this incident recently as I found myself contemplating yet another last-minute sprint for a project. But, instead of doing so, I decided to miss my commitment (it hurt!) and, instead, commit to a better process.

Here’s to that.