Why be a manager?
Why would anyone want to transition from individual contributor work to management?
The fine line between vulnerability and oversharing
If you’re worried about crossing that line, use this rule of thumb.
The Bible on “why context matters”
I love this example of why getting creative about assuming best intent is hard but critical. Take this verse…
Think of 10 good things for every bad thing
This is one of those cheesy instagram-ish things that actually has legs. I tried it as a weekly experiment a while back.
Don’t work when you’re feeling less than 70%
You’re not selfish if you take the afternoon off because you’re tired or headachey or cranky or whatever.
Make everyone else look brilliant
“We’re all making it up as we go, and the more you make those around you look good, the more you’ll shine, too.”
How little could you work without getting fired?
Make sure the extra time you’re spending at work is serving you, not just your company.
Death to kind-of-working
I have a bad habit of half-working. Half working means I’m also half not-working, so I’m doing neither one well.
Sometimes self care means working harder
I got no beef with self care as a concept. But when did “self care” become limited to bubble baths and massages?
The power of the back-channel buddy
The first thing I look for at a new job is a back-channel buddy. I need someone to BS with on Slack throughout the day. It makes me feel at home.
Ridicule is my love language
I feel loved when someone jokingly gives me crap. I show love by jokingly giving other people crap.
How metrics can kill intrinsic motivation
“An overemphasis on data can harm your culture through two different channels…”
To change your culture, change your performance reviews
Performance reviews are where the rubber meets the road. You can talk all day about how you value this or that, but if you aren’t promoting the people who do those things then it’s all BS.
Gall’s Law (MVP all the things)
I want to MVP everything these days, even (especially) non-technical things.
What are you optimizing for?
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite coaching questions. It works in almost any situation, and there’s no wrong answer.
The board of advisors BINGO card
When forming your mental board of advisors, use this BINGO card to make sure all your bases are covered.
Polished MVPs are not oxymorons
Engineers sometimes resist building an MVP because it has come to mean “low quality rush job that we end up maintaining forever.”
5 things I like right now: September, 2022
A backpack, some packing cubes, a calendar, a protein drink, and an Astley cover.
Attia’s rule of exercise
On why getting our exercise house in order should come before nearly anything else.
Six word memoirs
The idea originated from Hemingway (asked to describe his life in six words), who wrote: “for sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Critter’s 4+1 Management Process™️
Everything you need to know about management, except for most things.
Death to unexpressed emotions
I started a weekly experiment: every day, pick one unexpressed emotion and express it.
40% of the average life isn’t worth living
“If you could, and it had no negative consequences, would you jump forward in time to the end of what you’re currently doing?”
Extreme questions for triggering ideas
I love the list of questions laid out in this post to trigger ideas. This blog post is just a plug for that one…
Weekly experiment: sharing pictures of everything I eat
Unexpected side effect: I can’t mindlessly snack anymore.
People have a right to deeply understand their compensation
That includes their merit increases, their performance bonuses, their equity awards, all that.
Everyone in the company should know answers to questions like…
Intense teams, not tense teams
Tension isn’t just too-much-intensity like I used to believe. It’s a totally different scale.
Who (or what) is on your mental board of advisors?
“The Mental Board of Advisors is a group of 3-4 people (dead or alive) who you admire, and who you know well enough to be able to ask ‘what would [Naval / The Rock / Malala] do in this position?’”
Don’t procrastinate generosity
“Whenever a generous impulse arises in your mind – to give money, check in on a friend, send an email praising someone’s work – act on the impulse right away, rather than putting it off until later.”
Legacy code can’t help but suck
Best practices change. Standard dependencies become old school. Linters and quality checks get added. Newer language versions add syntactic sugar. None of that is the legacy code’s fault.
Thinking in calories
I’ve been thinking a lot about how everything comes down to survival instincts.
Your mom is my management philosophy
People sometimes ask me what my management philosophy is. I don’t know the answer. It feels like asking “what do you think about people?” or “how do you live your life?” It’s too broad.
Frogs won’t willingly be boiled
The legend says that if you put a frog in water and raise the temperature really really slowly, it won’t notice and it’ll eventually be boiled alive. Luckily for frogs, that’s nonsense.
Want feedback? Demand it.
If you’re not getting enough feedback, DM someone this and see what happens.
Why I write this blog
Here are all of the reasons I’ve kept up with this stupid blog: To remember the things I learn and think That’s it. I have a target audience of one: future me.
Audit your friendships
As the saying goes, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” That concept takes a lot of heat, but I think there’s at least some truth there. I think “five” is actually too low.
Pomodoros don’t work for me
After years of trying Pomodoro to get crap done, I’m chalking it up as a failure. Here’s why it doesn’t work for me…
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Mike Crittenden 