Working principles · 01—32
Mantras.
Hard-won mantras shaped through experience: building Newicon, working with teams and pursuing personal projects.
Some are original, some are borrowed or adapted from people and companies I admire. They are not commandments. They are prompts: useful ways to challenge an assumption, unlock a conversation or find a better next step.
01—08
Transparency and trust
- 01.Transparent by default
- 02.Leave politics to the politicians
- 03.Be responsible, be free
Perception is reality
Close mantra ↑We do not perceive the world as it is, but as we are. Our senses are noisy. We perceive the model our brain creates from them and, to borrow from George Box, all models are wrong.
Be suspicious of any single model and open to new ideas. We all see the world through lenses shaped by our own experiences and filters.
Understanding that makes it possible to change perspective and view a problem or situation through a different lens.
- 05.Questions are the answers
- 06.Be positive
- 07.The session musician
- 08.Toxic behaviour
09—16
Empowerment and growth
17—30
Innovation and engineering
- 17.The simple, not the complex
- 18.All requirements are wrong
- 19.Challenge constraints
- 20.Don’t #!@$ the customer
- 21.Pragmatic, not dogmatic
- 22.Use first-principles thinking
- 23.Aim to be less wrong over time
- 24.I don’t know is a superpower
- 25.Build rather than buy core skills
- 26.Ask why, why, why, why, why
- 27.Automate
- 28.Organise around the value stream
- 29.Be bold and break things
- 30.Make it visual
31—32