Lessons from Keith Rabois Essay 3: How to be an Effective Executive
...Running yourself...Running your team...
...Running yourself...Running your team...
...Unfortunately, thanks to a host of disruptions and diversions, including electric lighting, cell phones and laptops, longer work hours, anxiety, alcohol, and caffeine use, about half of adults sleep less than seven hours a night...
...but if you are stuck inside and still need to do your job, it’s important to set up a productive shop...
...Mistakes are bad, no doubt, but not learning from them is worse. The key to learning from mistakes is to admit them without excuses or defensiveness, rub your nose in them a little, and make the changes you need to make to grow going forward. If you can’t admit your mistakes, you won’t grow...
...fresh air is generally a great way to rid your space of pathogens. Open a window and let the breeze blow those germs away...
...We only get it once...
My philosophy for achieving this goal can be reduced to three simple rules: Do fewer things. Do them better. Know why you’re doing them.
...Doing something isn’t the same as getting results. The problem is we convince ourselves that our only options are to do something or do nothing. We forget the third option, gathering more information...
...There is one thing that you’re better at than other people: being you. This is the only game you can really win...
...It’s foolish to wait until you’ve made something that’s perfect, because you never will. The alternative is to continue to move toward your imaginary ideal, shipping as you iterate...
...So what is happiness? Kahneman believes that the answer lies in the tension between “what I experience” versus “what I remember.” And this conundrum shows up in many of our existential re-framings: should we live in the moment or delay gratification, focus on the process vs. the outcome, or the journey vs. the destination?...
...We make up stories in our minds and then against all evidence, defend them tooth and nail. Understanding why we do this is the key to discovering truth and making wiser decisions...
...Basically you can’t skip steps, you have to put one foot in front of the other, things take time, there are no shortcuts but you want to do those steps with passion and ferocity...
...A good nine out of ten bad things I’ve worried about never happened. A good nine out of ten bad things that did happen never occurred to me to worry about...
...This process is not linear. We can’t predict the future because there’s no way to take into account the tiny factors that will have a disproportionate impact in the long-run...
...A list of ideas, in no particular order and from different fields, that help explain how the world works...
...We often focus on trying to be brilliant, yet many great people get far more mileage out of avoiding making stupid mistakes. Amateurs win the game when their opponent loses points, experts win the game by gaining points...
...New cars these days have better safety features and more tech gizmos than models from a decade ago. And let's face it, trading in a beat-up clunker with grimy seats is an enticing idea...
...The most successful people are intentional about the things they do every day which set them up for productivity. They understand that achieving great things doesn't happen on its own. It's because the quality of your life is directly proportionate to your habits. Here are the ones more than dozens of executives rely on to get ahead in business and life...
...Her suggestions are centered around empathy, active listening, validating, and celebrating the person you choose to spend your life with, through thick and thin...