Loved the phrase "Results are the currency of credibility"
As a fellow Amazonian, I think the "are right a lot" Leadership Principle is key to being unreasonable. Pushing for a weak idea will get you nowhere, and will harm the people around you. But pushing for the right ideas will make progress.
A tricky balance. This was a nice reframing of the side of the balance of being right. Thanks for writing it, Ethan.
"Results are the currency of credibility" is one of Ethan's most popular phrases. Another one that works well for senior executive meetings is "Be bright, be quick, be gone."
For the "Are right a lot" LP, I recommend Lenny Rachitsky's interview with Bill Carr (ex-Amazon VP, Ethan's friend and former manager), they discuss the thinking behind the LP: https://youtu.be/S9WHQa_AJQo?si=UwrCJzbXvlI91EL6
It is important to remind that most people don’t hold a strong opinion about important things. The vast majority of people in business are followers or operators. They contribute to impactful initiatives and priorities, but they are not the ones creating change. That requires having conviction on our strong opinions, hence, the A-B loop you mentioned. It is not always true though, some organizations have more strongly opinionated people and it becomes harder to
Good point. With that said, for the followers (not change agents) it is still most effective to lead with "I will do XYZ option one unless you disagree. And here are a few other options we've eliminated."
Clearly state what you recommend. Do not just serve a menu and ask "Here are your choices, what do you want?"
Loved the phrase "Results are the currency of credibility"
As a fellow Amazonian, I think the "are right a lot" Leadership Principle is key to being unreasonable. Pushing for a weak idea will get you nowhere, and will harm the people around you. But pushing for the right ideas will make progress.
A tricky balance. This was a nice reframing of the side of the balance of being right. Thanks for writing it, Ethan.
"Results are the currency of credibility" is one of Ethan's most popular phrases. Another one that works well for senior executive meetings is "Be bright, be quick, be gone."
For the "Are right a lot" LP, I recommend Lenny Rachitsky's interview with Bill Carr (ex-Amazon VP, Ethan's friend and former manager), they discuss the thinking behind the LP: https://youtu.be/S9WHQa_AJQo?si=UwrCJzbXvlI91EL6
It is important to remind that most people don’t hold a strong opinion about important things. The vast majority of people in business are followers or operators. They contribute to impactful initiatives and priorities, but they are not the ones creating change. That requires having conviction on our strong opinions, hence, the A-B loop you mentioned. It is not always true though, some organizations have more strongly opinionated people and it becomes harder to
get buy-in as they have their own agenda.
Good point. With that said, for the followers (not change agents) it is still most effective to lead with "I will do XYZ option one unless you disagree. And here are a few other options we've eliminated."
Clearly state what you recommend. Do not just serve a menu and ask "Here are your choices, what do you want?"