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
- 04.Perception is reality
- 05.Questions are the answers
- 06.Be positive
The session musician
Close mantra ↑The session musician is the unsung hero who arrives at the studio and lays down the perfect track. Perhaps too perfect. She is clearly the best musician in the room, but the band still has feedback: “It sounds too good. Can you play it more grunge?” “Sure, I’ll give it a go.” She lays down another track to the best of her ability.
She is confident in her craft but always looking to incorporate feedback. She never takes suggestions personally because she knows she rocks.
No ego. No drama. Just a focus on creating the best whole and honing her craft. She could play a better solo than the lead, but in this moment the music needs only a few well-timed notes to make it sing.
Be the session musician. Love your craft. Fall in love with the result.
- 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