052 - How to Apply Physics Principles to Improve Your Relationships
Also, how to be a better coach, office politics 101 from Deb Liu, and Kevin Kelly's writing secrets.
Hi there,
I’m timeboxed this morning. After a few whirlwind weeks with a new office opening at work, a multiday birthday celebration and now about to leave on a family vacation. 😅
Here are the links I saved up in the meantime:
Farnam Street on Physics in Relationships (link)
Go positive and go first in relationships.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
If we push on someone they get defensive and push back.
Peter Shepherd on Providing Direction (link)
Great advice on being a better coach.
Pause and ask what people think before giving the answers. Sometimes they’re afraid to make their own assertions. Give permission.
Some highlights:
Politics appear when “our own incentives, the incentives of the company, and the incentives of others may not be aligned. We need to remember there isn’t a “good guy” or a “bad guy..”
They’re just doing the best they can with what they have.
How Deb pitched a feature to another team: “I want you to see this as us building something for you that you own and can take to market as your own. You should name it anything you want.”
Try to understand the people you see as acting political. “Actively try to understand why they seem hostile to you or your idea.”
Scot H Young on How to Get Unstuck (link)
Take the obvious thing then do it 10x.
10x your effort.
It’s not easy and this isn’t meant to make it seem easy. Sometimes when you’re stuck it’s just about increasing your number of attempts, not changing your strategy and tactics.
Kevin Kelly on How I Write
My favorite quote from Kevin:
“Everything has already been said. But no one was listening so it has to be said again.”
More highlights:
(At the same time) Try not to parrot what you’ve heard before. Write sentences that have never been written elsewhere.
Write to amaze.
You want to work on stuff that you would have a hard time explaining to your mom. That’s the cutting edge.
Thanks for reading,
Andrew
