Justin Stach
Operating principles
I’ve had a growing list of these in Notes rounding-up the rules I try and live by. I’ll add more as I find them (last updated 2023.04.15)
- Spend more time really understanding the present and making it better than you do predicting or designing the future (the now is undervalued)
- Make things better - always leave things in a better state than you found them
- Decentralise the decisions, centralise the vision and principles
- Automate routine stuff, leave the complicated stuff to humans
- Find (or create) and reinforce positive feedback loops
Don’t worry about predicting the future, focus on understanding the present- Make it safe to change your plans
- Do the work to make the work work
- Avoid creating bottlenecks, never be a gatekeeper
- Avoid big, attention-seeking, resource hungry projects: find the little things with unnoticed potential that don’t need lots of energy - set a few of these going
- (Plan your) measure twice; cut (confidently) once - inspired by Chris
- Your job is not to make decisions, it’s to ensure that the people around you are able to make good decisions
- Power rarely acts against its own interests - recognise where power lies and where your plans are working with or against it.